The Phoenix Archer
by NarniacSherlockian
Summary: Ana Cendre is a human living her life in hiding from the White Witch. She has a secret the could possibly put an end to the winter. Most of the Narnians didn't know about it. What happens when she meets the Pevensies? Will she have to expose her secret to save them or will she be able to keep it hidden? (Please give it a try! This is my first published work here)
1. Prologue

Author's note: Anything written in italics is either a prologue, flashback or epilogue. They will always be written in 3rd person and typically very short. The rest will be in 1st person. Based on the movies and takes place throughout the movie. I do not have a beta so all mistakes are my own. My first story in the sequel, and if enough people like it, I'll add the others. Constructive criticism only, please!

For this story, I have the children at these ages:  
Ana: 15  
Lucy: 10  
Edmund: 14  
Susan: 16  
Peter: 17

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the character, Ana, and her lines. All the rest goes to C.S Lewis and the producers of the movie.

Rating: K+ (Not anymore violent than the movies)

* * *

 _Ana was a very sweet, happy girl. She lived in a land called Narnia. During the summer, she would watch as the fauns and the dryads danced around the fire every night. She loved to watch them but never joined them for she couldn't dance. Occasionally, she would play some music for them to dance to. She had a clarinet and it was very precious to her. No one was allowed to touch it._

 _There was a secret that many knew, but kept well hidden. She was a phoenix. She could transform into the bird anytime she wished. When she burst into flames she could cause lots of damage until she dissolved into ash. Phoenixes have a short lifetime because once they catch fire they will burn into ash and be reborn. However, since Ana was a human as well, whenever she dissolved she would return back into a human. She never died but could transform back into a phoenix once she was human. Sometimes she would turn into a phoenix just so she could fly around. As long as she didn't become a ball of flame she would remain a phoenix._

 _Ana was against violence. She never cared for it and never fought in battle. One day that all changed. She knew that in order to survive she would have to use violence or stay hidden. She chose to stay hidden, but she couldn't forever. Fewer people knew her secret and things became more dangerous for Ana the longer she lived. This is her story._


	2. Chapter 1: Ana and Mr Tumnus

**Chapter 1 Ana and Mr. Tumnus**

"It's so cold," I mumbled to myself. "Oh that Witch! How long has she kept us in this dreadful winter?"

I had been walking through the forest on my way to see my friend Mr. Tumnus. I hardly ever left my home anymore as I could hardly stand the cold. If I was a phoenix I definitely couldn't; they weren't supposed to. But I was a human now and it didn't make the cold any better, no matter how many layers I of the phoenixes had been killed by the Witch or her curse. Only a few remained now and I planned on keeping my identity about it a secret.

I pulled my cloak tighter around my shoulders, hoping Mr. Tumnus' house would be warm. I would stay there for awhile before returning would probably be about the last time I visited. I just couldn't keep up the risk and it was always dangerous for Tumnus.

When I arrived at his house and knocked on the door, there was no answer. So I knocked again.  
"Mr. Tumnus. It's me, Ana. Please open the door," I begged quietly, at the door.

It opened slightly and Mr. Tumnus appeared from behind the door. "Ana? Goodness child, you must be cold. Please come in," he said and opened the door wider so I could walk inside. Immediately, I was hit with the warmth of his house.  
"Thank you Mr. Tumnus. I only make the journey to your house once every couple of months anymore. It's getting colder and I can hardly stand it anymore."  
"Well I'm glad you do. I enjoy your company while you're with me for a couple months."

I smiled and found a seat by the fireplace for warmth. "Your house is quite cozy."  
"Please, enjoy yourself. I have to run an errand. I should be back by two days from now at the latest. Tomorrow at the earliest. "  
"Okay. I shall look after your home until you return."  
He laughed, "I knew I could count on you."

Then he put on his scarf, grabbed his umbrella and some packages before walking out the door. I heard it 'click' and knew he locked it. I would be safe as long as I stayed inside. Mr. Tumnus was always trying to protect me. He was one of the few Narnians that knew my secret now. I think the only one, besides Aslan, who was still alive who knew.

Aslan.

It had been such a long time since anyone had seen him. Nearly a hundred years. That's how long the winter had lasted and we had yet to see Aslan since the summer before it began. Narnia had fallen silent and there was a strange magic in the air, the Witch's magic.

"I'm like 115 years old," I said aloud, to myself. "Wow. I'll never forget the day he told me. I remember it like it was yesterday."

 ** _~3rd Person point of view~  
_**

 _Ana flew in the sky, doing loops and twists. "Oh, Aslan. This is so thrilling!" she said through laughs, acting very much like the child she was._  
 _"Now, dear one, listen closely. There's more to being a phoenix than flying," he replied._  
 _She landed. "That was thrilling. I love flying!"_  
 _Aslan chuckled. "Your excitement is amusing."_  
 _"Amusing?"_  
 _"Yes," he smiled gently and then without explaining, he continued in a more serious tone. "Since you're a phoenix and a human you'll never be over the age of 15."_  
 _"What? Why?"_  
 _"When you're a phoenix, you're renewed as a human. When you dissolve into ash you return to your human form ready to transform once again," he told her._  
 _"But, Aslan," she said with worry in her voice, "does that mean I can never die?" She didn't want to be immortal, didn't want to live till the end of time._  
 _"No. You can die just like anyone else. Being killed in battle or being poisoned. You just won't die of old age."_  
 _"Oh._ _..._ _That's better_ _._ _I guess_ _?"_  
 _Aslan chuckled and the two spent the rest of the day together. **  
**_

 ** _~Ana's point of view~  
_**

"He never told me that being able to stay young would mean watching everyone I knew die. But I supposed I should've expected that," I sighed and removed my cloak. It had gotten too warm for me to keep it on anymore.

There was a chatter outside of Mr. Tumnus's house and I panicked. The one thing I knew was I couldn't be found here. Finding a human in Narnia would result in being turned over to the Witch. The result would probably be death, but no humans entered to test that theory. I didn't want to find out either. Quickly, I grabbed my cloak and looked around his house. There had to be someplace I could hide where I couldn't be found. Finally, I spotted a place and headed towards it. I stayed there, waiting to see if they would try to enter, hoping they didn't.


	3. Chapter 2: The Other Human

**Chapter 2 The Other Human**

I heard the door open easily. "That's odd. I thought Mr. Tumnus locked the door," I said to myself.  
Then I heard a female voice say "May I help you with that?"

I wasn't able to hear the reply of the other person as they were obviously still outside. Then I heard whoever they were enter and shut the door followed by quiet footsteps and light talking. I couldn't make out a voice or a sound but I was, however, I was curious as to who was here. My question was soon answered when they spoke up.

"Ana? Ana, where are you?" someone asked.

I knew that voice. It was Tumnus! I quickly got out of my hiding spot and ran into his living room.

"Mr. Tumnus! You scared me! I thought-" I cut myself off seeing a little girl in the living room. She couldn't be older than ten. She was holding a picture of Mr. Tumnus' father but put it down when she saw me. Both of them were staring at me. "Oh," was all I managed to say.  
The little girl laughed. "Hello. I'm Lucy Pevensie," she said walking towards me. "What's your name?"  
At first I was speechless. Then I managed to stutter out "I-I'm Ana Cendre. Everyone calls me Ana."  
"Pleased to meet you, Ana," she held out her hand. I just looked from her to her hand. "Oh, right. I forgot you guys don't know what to do."  
I must have had a confused look on my face because she said "I did the same thing to Mr. Tumnus and re reacted the same way."  
"Oh. I'm sorry," I apologized to her, then smiled. "I'm going to see if Mr. Tumnus needs any help." Then I left the young girl standing in the living room looking around.

Mr. Tumnus was in his kitchen preparing some tea and snacks.  
"Mr. Tumnus?" I asked.  
"What is it Ana?" he replied.  
I didn't want Lucy to hear, so I stepped closer and whispered "She can't stay here. It's not safe. She'll be much safer in her world. I spent a little time there and it felt safer. I only wish I could figure out how to get back..." This last sentence I said more to myself but Tumnus still heard.  
"I know she can't stay here. But I couldn't leave her out in the woods for the Witch to find," he stated. With that he took the tray into his living room.

I followed and sat down in a chair beside Lucy, next to the fire.  
"You're very pretty," she whispered to me.  
I sat there, a little shocked. No one ever said that to me and if they had, I wouldn't have believe it. But instead of telling her this, I simply said "Not as beautiful as you, dear."

She smiled up at me and then took her teacup from Mr. Tumnus. He offered me a cup and I turned him down politely. He looked a bit confused at first but quickly hid it and put the cup away. I noticed he didn't take anything either.

"But you would have loved Narnia in the summer," Mr. Tumnus said randomly.  
"What?" I asked, confused.  
"Mr. Tumnus was just explaining to me about having no Christmas in Narnia," Lucy said. "And a long winter..."  
"Oh. I must have tuned everything out."  
"You did," Mr. Tumnus said and Lucy laughed.  
"Oh. Well, please continue."  
"As I was saying, you would've loved Narnia in the summer. We fauns danced with the dryads all night. And you know we never got tired."  
"I loved watching them dance," I said, sadly.  
"And the music! Oh such music! Would you like to hear some now?"  
"Oh, yes please," Lucy said a little shyly.  
Mr. Tumnus smiled and grabbed a box from the mantle. "Now. Are you familiar with any Narnian lullabies?" he asked.  
"Sorry, no." she replied.  
"Well that's good. Because this probably won't sound anything like one."

They both smiled and he began to play a tune that I hadn't heard before. It was a very sweet sound but also kind of sad. I was so absorbed in my thoughts and listening to the music that I didn't notice what was going on around me. All I was paying attention to was the music and the strange, uneasy feeling it was giving me. It wasn't something I had expected and I didn't know what was happening.

Suddenly, a teacup crashed to the floor and I looked to see that Lucy had fallen asleep. She looked so peaceful, but I couldn't stay focused on her sleeping long because the candles went out, the fire included, and we were plunged into darkness. The music suddenly stopped and an eerie feeling remained.


	4. Chapter 3: The Choice

**Chapter 3 The Choice**

"Mr. Tumnus?" I asked. "W-what happened?"

I was scared simply because I had no idea what was going on. What I hated was that I always feared the worst, especially when something like this happened. Something in which I had no idea what was about to happen; I always assumed it wouldn't be very good and usually I was right. The dark feeling from early still remained and it only grew as Tumnus spoke.

"Ana!" Mr. Tumnus whisper-yelled at me. "I have to leave..."  
"Where?" I protested, confused at his urgency.  
"We need to take her to the Witch. It's the only way."  
"What?! When I said she couldn't stay here I didn't mean turning her over to the Witch!" I started raising my voice in anger and searched for my cloak, ready to leave his house. "Are you going to had me over to the Witch too?! I'm human to them as well!"  
"No I-" he began to protest.  
"Was your plan to befriend me and then had me off at that evil Witch?!" I was angry that he even think about handing Lucy over to the Witch. "Mr. Tumnus, how could you?!"

He was silent for a moment, processing my accusations before falling on the stairs, crying. I was shocked as I had never seen him cry, but my anger still simmered and wouldn't allow me to feel bad for the current predicament. Both of us stayed there for quite awhile, past several candlemarks. Tumnus' crying petered of but there was still tears in his eyes. I just kept standing by my chair, unsure if what to do as I let myself calm down. Just as I was about to say something, Lucy stirred and woke up causing me to look to the chair.

"Oh, I should go," she said after looking out a window and began to get up.  
"It's too late for that now," Mr. Tumnus said. "I'm such a terrible faun."  
"Oh you're the nicest faun I've ever met."

She started walking towards him and I cautiously started to follow her. Though she seemed to have forgotten my presence, I wouldn't be letting her out of my sight until I knew she was safe. I wouldn't let Mr. Tumnus turn Lucy over to the Witch, not while I was still here. Even though it might mean that I had to hurt a friend to get her away.

"Then I'm afraid you've had a very poor sampling," Tumnus continued to ramble, now beginning to cry again.  
"You couldn't have done anything that bad." She handed him her handkerchief and he used it to wipe the tears in his eyes.  
"It's not something I have done, Lucy Pevensie. It's something I am doing."  
"What are doing?"  
"I'm kidnapping you."  
She gasped and back up into me. She was seemed to be afraid of me as well and I frowned slightly. "Not while I'm here! I'll get you home!" I assured her. "I promise, Lucy."  
"It was the White Witch! She's the one that makes it always winter. Always cold. She gave orders. If we were to ever find a human wandering in the woods we're-we're supposed to turn it over to her," he pleaded through his tears.  
"But Mr. Tumnus you wouldn't," Lucy said and he looked down at the ground, seeming embarrassed. "I thought you were my friend."

What she said caused him to jump up. His hooves made loud noises with his frantic movements as he quickly shuffled about. Then before I had time to process what happened, he grabbed her arm and ran towards the door, closing it behind him. I quickly made to follow him, throwing my cloak over my shoulders, when I suddenly stopped. I couldn't explain it, but something told me to wait and I seriously debated ignoring it and chasing Mr. Tumnus down. However, there was a persistent voice that told me to wait and I sighed, knowing it was probably for the best.

"I just hope he made the right decision," I muttered aloud to myself. Something told me that he did.

Instead I moved away from the door, and began to clean up. I took the tea tray and snacks back into the kitchen and cleaned up Lucy's spilt teacup, discarding the broken pieces before relighting some of the candles. Hanging my cloak on the back of the chair, I moved to relight the fire when the door opened. I turned around and saw Tumnus out of breath.

"What did you do?" I demanded immediately.  
"I couldn't do it. I couldn't turn her over to the Witch... I led her home," he answered between breaths.  
"Thank you. You did the right thing. No matter what the result, I'll stand by your decision, even if they come and get us."  
"No. You won't. You're too important to be captured."  
"Too important? Mr. Tumnus, what in Aslan's Name are you talking about?"  
"Oh. Nothing. Never mind. Forget I said anything."

I knew I wouldn't forget, but I didn't press the topic just yet. Maybe another time when he wasn't so tense. But it was obvious Tumnus knew something I didn't and I didn't really mind. He was entitled to his own secrets. After all, I had mine.

Mr. Tumnus relit the fire and sat down in his chair. I joined him and we just sat there not saying, enjoying the peaceful moment. Who knew what time we had left before the Witch came to whisk us away. Maybe she would never find out, as I had yet to be seen and reported to her, I deeply hoped that was the case.

It took days for Mr. Tumnus to relax and, if we're being honest, I was on edge too. Every noise outside was the Witch and her minions coming to get us. But after awhile, we figured that the Witch hadn't found out and he was safe. Things fell back into our normal routine and we had forgotten about being worried. That was until we heard a noise outside his door. Voices and footsteps.


	5. Chapter 4: Lucy Returns

"Quickly, Ana," Mr. Tumnus yelled in a hushed whisper so as not to attract too much attention, "in here." He moved a cabinet to reveal a door. "Hide. And don't come out until I get you. No matter what happens."

I went inside the door and saw that it was a tunnel and something I would have to explore if I was in here for long. But I hoped that wouldn't have to be. At the moment all I cared about was how long it had been there and why I really had to hide, why I was 'too important.' But Mr. Tumnus shut the door before I could ask him any questions and it sounded like he moved the cabinet back in place. Afterwards, I couldn't hear anything. I hope it was because nothing was happening. But I didn't know for sure; I didn't really know anything other than Mr. Tumnus wanted to keep me safe for some unknown reason.

There was a clutter as the cabinet blocking the door slid away. Someone opened the door and I was hit with a bright light. A figure stood in the lighting just so that I could only make out their silhouette and not who it belonged to.  
"Ana!" the figure said.  
"Lucy?"  
"Yes! You can come out now."  
"Um... Okay."  
I walked out, Lucy closed the door, and Mr. Tumnus carefully moved the cabinet back into place.  
"What was that place for?" Lucy asked.  
"For Ana," he replied.  
"Me?" I asked, highly confused.  
"Yes. I had it made for you so that whenever you came over, you could hide. After all you are human," he explained.  
"Narnian. I'm a Narnian. I was born here and the Narnians raised me. Besides, I'm far from a normal human," I said, sternly. He seemed to always forget that.  
"What do you mean?" Lucy asked.  
For that brief moment I had forgotten she was there as she had been quiet. I was worried about what to say as I didn't want to explain about the phoenix. "What Lucy?"  
"I mean, what do you mean 'you're far from a normal human.' You look pretty normal to me."  
"There's more to me than what meets the eye. I can be very dangerous when angered," I said, "I've learned to be careful. If anyone found out my secret, it would be a horrible outcome for the both of us."  
"Oh. Will you tell me your secret sometime?"  
"Maybe one day. Maybe one day."

Then the discussion was dropped and Mr. Tumnus went to fix some tea and more snacks. Lucy and I wandered over to the fire, not really saying anything and waiting for Tumnus. When he finished and brought the tray in, we all made ourselves comfortable in the chairs. This time, Mr. Tumnus made no attempts to put Lucy to sleep and he even partook in drinking the tea. I suspected it had been drugged the first time around.

The three if us spent time talking and telling jokes, having fun. Then Lucy explained to us how her siblings didn't believe her, that they all thought she was crazy. My heart went out to the poor girl. I never had siblings but I thought it would fun to have some. However, what Lucy was saying was making me rethink it though, I was sure they weren't like that all the time. Besides, even though I hadn't known her long, I felt like Lucy was a little sister to me.

A little while later, Lucy decided it was time for her to leave. We said our goodbyes and stood by the door as she left. Tumnus offered to walk her back by she declined his offer, saying she had made it safely the first time. I was hesitant but she persisted and we were unable to refuse after everything. Instead, we just watched as she closed the door and I listened until her footsteps faded until I couldn't hear.

Mr. Tumnus ruined the silence by asking a question I always hated answering. "What happens when you get angry?"  
"Uh... Long story," was my vague answer.  
"We've got time," he insisted and I sighed.  
"Well, it was a long time ago. Before this dreadful winter. I was about 10, maybe a little younger..."

 ** _~3rd Person point of view~_**

 _"Stop it!" she yelled._

 _A couple of the young fauns decided it would be a good idea to get Ana upset and angry. They had heard whispers that bad things happened and they're curiosity got the better of them. The fauns wanted to if they were true and what exactly happened so they formed a plan. They invited her to play hide-and-seek and then nominated her to be the one to count. She agreed_ _,_ _of course_ _,_ _and began counting as the fauns headed off to hide. Or so she thought._

 _They all surrounded her, each hidden in a different place. Then they gathered up sticks and rocks and started throwing them at her. One person at a time. When she heard the first one, she immediately stopped counting and looked around but saw no one. She figure it might've been the wind and continued counting. When she got hit with a rock, she whirled around looking for the others. She had a bad feeling about was happening._

 _"This isn't funny..." she stated into the air, figuring they'd catch the seriousness._

 _But all it did was egg them on and they began throwing their stick and stones at her at the same time. Some hit her, quite hard, and Ana grew panicked. She knew what would happen if it kept up and she needed to get away. However, she could run because they were coming from all around she didn't know where to run and there was no way she would be transforming. Ana feared she wouldn't be able to control what happened, knew she wouldn't be able to much longer anyway._

 _"Guys," she pleaded, "please stop. This isn't a good idea." No one said anything and things kept flying_ _._ _"Stop it!" She kept yelling, pleading._

 _But they wouldn't. Out of anger-and partly out of fear-she turned into a phoenix, shocking the fauns_. They all immediately stop throwing things in surprise but it was too late. A _na had lost the little control she had and before she knew it, s_ _he had burst into flames on the ground. The area quickly caught fire since it had not rained for awhile and the land was very dry. All of the fauns were startled and took of running as fast as they could. They now had to out run the fire the had unintentionally caused._

 _However, once Ana caught fire she immediately turned back to a human. The flames surrounded her on all sides and she tried to rein in her panic as the grew closer. The fauns didn't even realize that Ana herself was trapped in the middle of them. But she knew that there was only one thing she could do so she took a couple deep breaths to drive off the rising panic. She knew she had to get the fire out quickly before it destroyed Narnia._ _It would be all her fault, at least that's what she believed, so she transformed once again._

 _This time she flew up, above the flames and went looking for a water nymph. It didn't take long and she quickly explained the problem to the nymph. Then the two headed back to the source and Ana watched as the nymph calmly put it out. A few Narnians had appeared to help after hearing the fauns cry 'fire' but the situation was resolved before they could say anything. Ana quietly stared at the ground, wishing she could disappear from the prying eyes that knew she started it, though accidentally.  
_

 _"Thank you," Ana muttered to the nymph. "I'm sorry."_  
 _"Don't worry about it," the nymph stated, calmly. "Those fauns shouldn't have tried to get you angry." Ana said nothing and the nymph's eyes shuffled to the crowd of Narnians. "Go home, Ana. I'll take care of this. You're not to blame," she assured but Ana could only nod and leave the area as quickly as she could.  
_

 _ **~Ana's point of view~  
**_

"Wow," Mr. Tumnus said shocked. "I never heard about that."  
"No one ever did. They kept it quiet. I stayed inside for quite a few days after that and none of the fauns ever came near me again," I told him, sadly.  
"I see. Well we can discuss this topic more later. I think we should sleep. It's pretty late."  
"Yeah," I solemnly agreed.

We both got up and headed to our rooms. However, we both stopped in our tracks when at a noise outside and held our breath to listen carefully. Neither one of us wanted a repeat from earlier that morning. But the sound sleigh bells and the howling of wolves had us moving again. The Witch had found out and it was too late to do anything but hide.


	6. Chapter 5: Mr Tumnus is Captured

**Chapter 5 Mr. Tumnus is Captured**

I quickly ran for the cabinet hiding the door, but I tripped over something and almost fell, catching myself on the arm of a chair. I looked to see what it was, saw my cloak, grabbed it to eliminated any trace of me, and dashed to the cabinet. Mr. Tumnus had scrabbled past me to remove it from blocking the door before turning to search the kitchen for something. I went inside, though hesitant to leave Tumnus to face her alone, and he urged me in by handing me a candle. A quiet whisper that he had forgotten before was the last I heard him say before the door was shut and the cabinet placed in front.

There was a shuffle as Mr. Tumnus dashed around his home for whatever reason. Then everything fell silent and I waited with baited breath. I jumped at the wolf howl and the loud thud that followed after, biting my lip to keep myself from crying out in fear. There was some yelling but all I could make out was "human" and "traitor". I heard something that sounded like dragging sounds of a struggle as things fell over and broke. They were searching for something, or rather someone, and I heard Mr. Tumnus pleading, though I couldn't make out his words. Just the tone of his voice.

Someone came close to the cabinet and I tried to slow my breathing. I didn't realize how panicked I had been until that moment and I sighed in relief when they never moved it. Instead, they seemed to dump everything out of it before everything fell quiet again. I thought they were suspicious of my hiding place and tried to figure out what to do. But then I heard a whip crack and the sound of bells followed by the footsteps whoever was in front of the cabinet as they took off running after the sleigh.

I was left alone, stuck in a quiet tunnel. It was much too quiet for me. It was more of an eery quiet instead of a peaceful one anyways, leaving me on edge. It was there that I fully processed what had transpired, causing tears to well in my eyes. Mr. Tumnus had hidden me from the White Witch and saved Lucy's life. But ow he was captured and I was trapped in a tunnel with no place to go.

Finally, I couldn't hold it back anymore and let the tears fall. My best friend-and only Narnian who knew my secret-was gone. What was I going to do? How would I get out of the tunnel? What would happen to Tumnus? To me? I sat down on the floor of the tunnel and rested my head against the cave wall. For awhile, I just stayed like that slouched against a dirt wall, silently crying, too afraid to make any noise otherwise.

Eventually, I decided to find out where the tunnel lead. So I picked the candle up, from where I placed it on the ground and stood up from my position. Luckily, Mr. Tumnus had his wits, and had calmed his panic, enough to provide me with a lit one so I didn't worry about lighting it as I headed towards the back. I had to be careful not to trip on tree roots that came protruding from the ground because I didn't need to fall and lose my only real source of light.

The tunnel just ended, never leading anywhere. Maybe it was incomplete or that was how it was supposed to be, but I didn't know for sure and could only speculate. I sighed in disappointment and used the candle to investigate a small mound that I could make out in the dark. It was a pile of food and cans of what I assumed was water, carefully packaged and organized on the ground. Mr. Tumnus must've thought that I would be here a couple days, if not longer. I sincerely hoped it wouldn't be too long before help came because there was not enough for me to live on for more than a week. Logically, things didn't actually look to good and I shuddered to think of what would happen to me if I couldn't get out of the tunnel. I would have to ration everything and hope it would last as long as long as I needed to.

I wasn't hungry now, but I needed to rest for the night as our plans for sleeping had been interrupted by the witch. The best thing I thought of would be if I went back up by the door; that way if anybody came while I was sleeping, I would hear it. There might be enough time for me to react and maybe get away before whoever opened it realized what was happening. Even if I had to become the phoenix, which I hadn't been in years, in order to get away.

So, I headed back to the door to put my plan into action if need be. Traveling to the door was just as difficult as walking to the back. My eyes had managed to adjust somewhat but it was still difficult to see and I ended up walking hunched over to get a better few of the ground. I tripped over less roots than the first time around and decided that was an accomplishment.

Once I reached the door, I put on my discarded cloak and sat back down. I hesitated on what to do with the candle-blow it out or leave it-before blowing it out to preserve it. Settling down against the wall, I pulled the hood of my cloak over my head as it was the only thing for warmth I had. After staring up at the dark ceiling, my eyes grew heavy and I eventually fell asleep.

"Ana?! Ana?!" someone shouted, awakening me from my slumber.

I opened my eyes saw that everything hadn't been a dream; I was still in the tunnel and Tumnus was gone. Something was different from when I fell asleep, though. There was a voice, but much different than the ones who took Mr. Tumnus as they seemed worried.

"Ana?!" the voice said again, closer to the cabinet and this time I recognized it as Lucy's.  
"Lucy!" I said excitedly, standing up, knowing she could help get me out.

I heard her struggling to move the cabinet but it wasn't moving. Hoping to help, I pushed against the door, but knew it probably wouldn't do any good. I wasn't surprised when Lucy huffed and took a step back, making curious as to what was happening on the other side.

"Give me a minute! I'll get some help" she cried.  
"Lucy! Wait-" I tried to stopped her, not wanting her to run off into Narnian. But it was too late as I heard her footsteps retreat before I could finish my sentence.

She was actually pretty determined, I had to say. Whatever she needed, she always tried to get it and that worried me a little as it could get her into trouble. That being said, I knew that she wouldn't let me stay in here and though I didn't really want to, I would've preferred it to her running to look for help.

Not a minute after her footsteps left, when someone different returned and I heard the cabinet being easily moved out of the way. A little confused as to how quickly help had returned, bent down and grabbed the candle. Shortly after, the door was opened and once again I was met with the bright light. After blinking a few times, my eyes quickly adjusted and I could see Lucy who had tears in her eyes.

As soon as I exited the tunnel, she wrapped me in a hug.  
"I thought you were gone too," she said through her tears.  
"Nah. You couldn't get rid of me that easily," I replied, trying to lighten the mood.

It worked because she gave a light laugh before letting go and taking a step back. I immediately started to wipe the dirt off of me. It sure was dirty in there, but then again it was a a dirt tunnel and nothing short of what should be expected. I paused halfway through dusting myself off when I realized that Lucy and I weren't the only ones here. There were three other people-actual humans-present and each of them were all staring at me.


	7. Chapter 6: The Pevensies and Mr Beaver

**Chapter 6 The Pevensies and Mr. Beaver**

"Uh..." I said shocked, "h-hello."

Lucy laughed at my confused reaction, in return I playfully glared at her. There were two boys and one girl. One boy I guessed to be fourteen. The other I guessed was older than me by a couple years, maybe seventeen. The one I guessed to be fourteen had dark brown, almost black hair and brown eyes. The older boy's hair was more blonde than brown and he had blue eyes. He looked much different from the younger boy.

Then I looked at the girl. She was older than Lucy and the dark brown-haired boy but younger than the blonde-haired boy. She had brown hair just like the others, though closer in color to the youngest boy. And she had blue eyes like both Lucy and the eldest one. I guessed that she was about sixteen maybe fifteen. I could tell that they were all related because of their similar features. Like Lucy had the same nose as the younger of the boys, the two in between had the same mouth.

"Ana, these are my siblings," Lucy said. "Peter, Susan, and Edmund," she introduced me to them, gesturing to each as she said their names. Her voice was still sad but I knew the reason why.  
"Hello... I'm Ana," I said rather quietly. I was a bit shy, after all.

They each nodded a hello to me and didn't say anything. Well Edmund just glared at me but he still didn't say anything either. I wondered what was wrong with him to make him act like that. He barely knew me and he was already glaring at me.

"Peter's the one who moved the cabinet for me. Well you," Lucy said.  
"Thank you," I said to him.  
"You're welcome," he said.

My eyes fell upon a piece of paper that was in Peter's hand. I was curious to what it said. Lucy kept glancing at it. The paper must've been important.

"May I see that?" I asked, pointing to the paper. Peter handed it over to me and read over my shoulder as I walked closer to the rest of them.  
"The Faun Tumnus,  
is hereby charged with High Treason  
against her Imperial Majesty, Jadis, Queen of Narnia  
for comforting her enemies and fraternizing with humans.  
Signed Maugrim, Captain of the Secret Police.  
Long Live the Queen."

"Oh! What- Ugh!" I said aloud trying to figure out what to say, and how to react the terrible news.  
"We really should go back," Susan said.  
"But what about Mr. Tumnus?!" Lucy cried.  
"If he was arrested just for being with a human, I don't think there's much we can do."  
"You don't understand do you? I'm the human. She must've found out he-well Ana too-helped me," Lucy pleaded once more.  
"Maybe we could call the police!" Peter said, trying to help without really siding with either sister.  
"These are the police," Susan said as she pointed to the note in my hand.  
Peter turned to Lucy, looked her in the eyes, and said, "Don't worry Lu, we'll think of something."  
"Why?" Edmund said.  
We all turned to look at him.  
"I mean, he's a criminal," he finished.

I thought about. Technically he was right. Mr. Tumnus had broke the Witch's rules and that made him a criminal in their eyes. However, to some- and Aslan- he was far from it. He was a hero, and the Witch had taken that away from him. Then I realized something.  
"I'm a criminal too," I said.  
They all looked at me, confused and shocked.  
"It's true. I did all of the things they said in the letter. Mr. Tumnus and I did all of that together. They just didn't know another was involved."

It was silent for a moment as we all looked from one person to the next. None of us knew what to say next; there was nothing anyone could say to make the situation go away. It also appeared, to me anyways, that no one wanted to be the first one to speak. Thankfully none of us had to.

"Psst," a bird said.  
Susan looked confused and turned to Peter, Lucy, and I.  
"Did that bird just 'psst' us?" she asked.

Upon hearing Susan's question, Peter walked out of Mr. Tumnus' house- what was left of it anyway. The others followed their brother and soon, I did as well. There was nothing else I had to do, so I figured I'd tag along with Lucy and her siblings for now. If they asked me to leave, I would; it was their right. Anyways, it's not like I didn't have anywhere to go so they wouldn't be leaving me stranded.

A twig snapped rather loudly, in my opinion for someone who was trying to be sneaky. We all looked towards the sound but saw nothing. Peter was in front but Susan came up beside him and put her hand on his shoulder. Lucy followed Susan and grabbed her sister's arm. They were scared but I couldn't blame them for I was too, but for a different reason. They didn't know what dangers lurked for five humans, but I did and the sooner we were out of the open, the better.

I watched to see if Edmund would follow and join his siblings, but he didn't move from his spot. Instead, he stood there looking void of any emotion, but I could tell by the way he was standing that he was scared too. He just didn't want to show it to anyone, but the reason was unknown to me. Edmund seem to avoid getting close to his siblings as much as he could and it concerned me a little. But, as I had no idea what to expect of siblings, I simply ignored it.

I was pulled from my concern when I heard the sound again. I looked around, but, like before, I didn't see anything. For the first time in a long time, I thought about becoming a phoenix. That way, I could protect them and get them home safely before their lives became endangered.

Thankfully, I didn't have to because a beaver appeared from behind a hill of snow. I relaxed immediately because I could tell that it was on Aslan's side, simply because it was alone. The Witch's followers always travel with each other and never alone. I didn't know why they always did, but Aslan's followers could travel quickly and more discreetly alone.

Another thing I noticed was that the beaver could talk. There's just something about dumb beasts compared to the others that Narnians can tell if they talk or not. Without them speaking or talking to you, or at least attempting to speak with the ones who can't. I wasn't sure exactly how we Narnians knew, though. Instincts I guess.

I was just about to tell them the beaver could talk when I saw what Peter was doing. He was reaching his hand out towards the beaver and slowly walking forward saying, "Here boy. Here boy." He also made some kind of weird clicking sound.

"Well I ain't gonna smell it, if that's what you want!" the beaver said suddenly.

Edmund looked shocked and I tired to stifle a laugh, but failed. I couldn't tell what the others thought, with their backs to me, but I guessed that they were shocked as well. Well I guess not Lucy because she was giggling slightly, just like me.

"S-sorry," Peter stuttered out, sounding embarrassed.  
"Lucy Pevensie?" the beaver asked.  
Lucy suddenly stopped laughing, and as I moved closer, I could see that her smile had faded. She stepped forward and tentatively said, "Yes?"  
The beaver held out a handkerchief.  
"Hey, that's the hankie I gave to Mr. Tum-"  
"Tumnus," Mr. Beaver finished. "He got it to me just before they took 'em."

Strange... When was that? I hadn't seen Mr. Tumnus and Mr. Beaver together and I was confused. But Mr. Beaver had no reason to lie so I assumed it was earlier, probably some time when we at least thought the Witch was coming. He could've easily sneaked out and gave it to him.

"Is he alright?" Lucy and I both said at the same time, glancing at each other as we did.  
Mr. Beaver looked from Lucy to me before whispering, "Further in."

Then he took off behind the hill of snow. I went after him and Lucy started to follow me. However when I looked back, they were all just standing there. They needed to come with Mr. Beaver or take their chances with the Witch. Frankly, I would take going with Mr. Beaver over anything involving the Witch and when just about to say so.

"Everything all right?" asked Mr. Beaver as he appeared back over the snow bank.  
"Yes. We were just talking," Peter replied, facing back to him.  
Quietly he replied, "That's better left for safer quarters."  
"He means the trees," Lucy said quietly and I nodded in agreement, only briefly wondering how she knew that.

Soon, they all followed Mr. Beaver and I. He lead us through Narnia to his home, at least that's what I thought he was taking us. I could've just went home, but something told me to stay with the Pevensies. Like somehow it was my duty to protect them. Besides, I wouldn't want to leave unless I knew the Pevensies were safe.

"Come on now," Mr. Beaver said, " We don't want to be caught out here after nightfall."

That was actually quite true. Narnia was quite a magical and wonderful place, for the most part anyways. If you didn't think about the Witch and the hundred year winter it was fine. At night, all the magic still stayed but it had a much scarier feel to it. Like something, or someone, was watching you. Aslan's wonderful Narnia disappeared at night and in its place was the Witch's.

* * *

Author's note: Feedback is always welcome. I try to make my writing work better for the readers. Just tell me what I need to improve.


	8. Chapter 7: The Prophecies

**Chapter 7 The Prophecies**

We soon stopped at a ledge that led downward into a valley. There was a pond down below with a lovely beaver dam that had smoke rising from the chimney, making it seem very inviting. Lucy and I exchanged a look as Mr. Beaver pointed it out, seeming to be thinking the same thing.  
"Ah, blimey! Looks like the old girl's got the kettle on. Nice cup o' Rosy Lee," Mr. Beaver said.  
"It's lovely!" Lucy said.  
"It's merely a trifle. Still plenty to do. Ain't quite finished it yet," Mr. Beaver argued. "It'll look the business when it is though." He said the last part quieter as if he was talking to himself.

He was trying to be modest, I could definitely tell. But Lucy was right and her siblings, with the exception of Edmund, seemed to agree. But no matter how hard Lucy or I tried to press the subject, Mr. Beaver wouldn't hear of it and led us down to the dam.

"Beaver? Is that you?" a female voice said from the dam, "I've been worried sick! If I find out you've been out with badger again I-" she cut herself off when she walked out and saw us. "Oh, those aren't badgers." And suddenly, she got really excited. "Oh, I never thought I'd live to see this day!"

We all just looked at her confused and the Pevensies looked at me for an explanation. All I could do was shrug as I had no idea what she was talking about either. Sure, humans weren't common in Narnia but that didn't explain her reaction. She probably should've been concerned with making sure we weren't caught, not getting excited because we were here. But I didn't feel the need to say any of this to anyone present so we were all left pondering.

Mrs. Beaver whispered to her husband, "Look at my fur! You couldn't give me ten minutes warning!"  
"I would've given you a week if I thought it would've helped!" he replied making us all laugh, except for Edmund.

Mrs. Beaver sighed then said "Oh, come inside. And we'll see if we can get you some food and some civilized company." She looked at her husband when she said 'civilized' and he chuckled.

Susan went in first followed, closely by her sister and Peter. I faintly heard Mrs. Beaver say that the house was a mess because she couldn't get Mr. Beaver to get out of his chair. I smiled a little at that as I followed Peter inside.

"Enjoyin' the scenery, are we?" I heard Mr. Beaver ask.

I turned around just in time to see Edmund shake his head and walk inside. He sat down on the stairs by the door, refusing to join everyone else. We made ourselves comfortable around the table. Lucy sat next to Mr. Beaver, leaving a space between them for Mrs. Beaver to sit, and I sat on the other side of him. Peter and Susan were in between us, with Peter sitting between the two sisters.

"Isn't there anything we can do to help Tumnus?" Peter asked what Lucy and I were thinking.  
"They'll have taken him to the Witch's house," Mr. Beaver stated. "And you know what they say. There's few who go through them gates who come out again."  
Lucy's face fell at the news and I shuddered. Mrs. Beaver came up to the table and set down a tray of food.  
"Fish and chips," she said, offering it to us with a smile to lighten the mood. When she saw Lucy's downcast expression, she placed a paw on her arm and spoke encouragingly. "But there's hope, dear. Lots of hope."  
Mr. Beaver choked on his drink. "Oh, yeah! There's a bright bit more than hope!" he practically shouted. Then he calmed himself and spoke with a quiet voice, "Aslan is on the move."

I couldn't hold back a gasp. The others glanced at me but returned their gaze to the beavers before I could explain. By the looks on their faces, they had no idea who Aslan was. Then again, Mr. Tumnus and I never told Lucy and her siblings weren't here long enough to know so it really shouldn't have been a surprise. I nearly cursed myself for not explaining before realizing that I never expected to see Lucy again. Besides, Aslan being gone would've been hard to explain when neither of us really understood why ourselves.

"Who's Aslan?" Edmund inquired for all of them.  
Mr. Beaver only laughed, "Who's Aslan?! You cheeky little blighter!"  
Mrs. Beaver hit him in the arm and he looked at her.  
"What?" he said. She gestured to us and when Mr. Beaver looked, he understood, "You don't know, do you?"  
"Well we haven't exactly been here very long!" Peter defended.  
"I know who He is if it helps anything," I said a little quietly.  
"He's only the King of the whole woods. The top geezer! The real King of Narnia!" Mr. Beaver explained, ignoring my comment or he hadn't heard it.  
"He's been awhile for a long while!" Mrs. Beaver interjected.  
"But he just got back! And he's waiting for you near the Stone Table!"  
"He's waiting for us?" Lucy asked. Even I was confused at that.  
"You're bloomin' joking!" was his exasperated reply as he turned to his wife. "They don't even know about the prophecy!"  
"Well then..." Mrs. Beaver urged him.  
"Look. Aslan's return, Tumnus' arrest, the secret police! It's all happening because of you!" he said.  
"You're blaming us?" Susan asked and I had to agreed. It did sound like they were blaming, though I didn't believe that was the intended affect.  
"No! Not blaming," Mrs. Beaver quickly elaborated, "Thanking you."  
"There's a prophecy," Mr. Beaver began. "'When Adam's flesh, and Adam's bone, sits in Cair Paravel in throne, the evil time will be over and done.'"  
"You know that doesn't really rhyme," Susan pointed out.  
"I know it don't. But you're kind of messing the point!" Mr. Beaver said.  
Mrs. Beaver continued, "It has long been foretold that two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve will defeat the White Witch and restore peace to Narnia."

She pointed to each of the boys with 'two Sons' and at the three of us with 'two Daughters'. The Pevensies looked at each other with confusion. I felt really out of place before getting a feeling that I wouldn't like where this conversation was going. Then I had the sudden urge to hide, and I didn't really want to find out why.

"But that can't be right," Lucy said, "There's three of us. Ana's here too."  
"No. I'm just here for the fun of it," I said trying to take their minds off Tumnus. "Moral support." Lucy gently smiled, so I knew it worked somewhat.  
"There's another prophecy," Mr. Beaver said to Lucy.  
"Oh?" I replied, confused. The sinking feeling got worse.  
"For a Daughter of Eve," Mrs. Beaver said. "Another daughter. Three Daughters of Eve." Again she gestured to Lucy, Susan, and me.  
"'With wings of fire she'll protect them all. The warrior she'll become when she finds her true self, the phoenix inside that can no longer be contained. She'll take flight and become the friend and warrior to all the Narnians in the land,'" Mr. Beaver said.

I sat back in silence, knowing it was talking about me. But that didn't mean that the Pevensies did and I guessed the didn't, if the looks on their faces were any indication. Each of them appeared to be pondering who exactly the third Daughter of Eve was. It made more sense for the first to be talking about the four of them and the second to be talking about me, but I hoped none of them would truly jump to that conclusion.

Upon hearing the prophecies, a question kept nagging me as well. If The Beavers knew-and Tumnus seemed to know-about these prophecies, how come I didn't? I mean, I had lived in Narnia all my life but never once heard mutterings of such things. I was just about to ask The Beavers that question when Peter spoke up. It broke the awkward silence that had fallen.

"And you think we're the ones?" Peter stated, rather bewildered.  
"Well you better be, because Aslan's already fitted out your army!" Mr. Beaver practically yelled.  
"Our army?!" Lucy questioned, alarmed.  
Susan looked at Peter and said, "Mum sent us away so we wouldn't get caught up in a war!"  
"I think you've made a mistake," Peter said. "We're not heroes."  
"We're from Finchley!" Susan replied.

The poor Beaver looked utterly confused and, in all honestly, I was too. We didn't know why she meant by 'Finchley.' It had to be some place out of Narnia, but that didn't really help with their defense. They were the only four humans Narnia had seen in a long time, and I made five-though, technically speaking, I was a Narnian as well as a human. Human by birth, Narnian by magic. It wasn't a coincidence that the five of us would meet and end up with no place to go. The universe was rarely so lazy so I knew it had to be His plan.

"Thank you for your hospitality, but we really have to go," Susan said, standing up.  
"You can't just leave!" Mr. Beaver protested, anxiously.  
"He's right. We have to help Mr. Tumnus," Lucy said.  
"It's out of our hands!" Peter argued, joining Susan by standing up. "I'm sorry but it's time the four of us be getting home. Ed?"

They started looking around but he was no where to be seen and the door was open. I should've kept a better watch as I knew what kind of dangers were out there for humans. He wouldn't know who, or what, to avoid. Even if I hadn't been able to do anything I would've at least saw him leave and told the others. Now he had disappeared for whatever reason.

"I'm gonna kill 'em" Peter said mostly to himself and Susan.

I hoped he wasn't serious. Maybe that was just something these people said when they were mad at their siblings. But Mr. Beaver's next words sent a shiver down my spine. And he was very serious.  
"You may not have to," Mr. Beaver said and we all looked at him. "Has Edmund ever been to Narnia before?"


	9. Chapter 8: Edmund's Betrayal

**Chapter 8 Edmund's Betrayal**

The others immediately looked to Lucy who fearfully shook her head "yes." Not a second afterwards, Peter grabbed his coat and took off after him, allowing no explanation. The two girls repeated his actions and followed him in search of Edmund. Sharing a look, Mr. Beaver and I chased after them, already having a sense of where he was going. It wasn't until Lucy confirmed that he had visited Narnia once before that I put the pieces together. I guess who he had met for the first time wasn't a Narnia but rather, the Witch.

Shortly after leaving the dam, we noticed Edmund's tracks. We followed them in a direction Mr. Beaver and I would normally refuse to go, the Witch's castle. They led up a steep hill and the Pevensies didn't hesitate. It was quite hard to run in the cold snow, especially since it was growing colder out each moment that passed. Running up a steep hill was hard enough on its own and adding cold temperatures didn't help our situation.

"Hurry!" Peter shouted to his siblings once he reached the top.I don't think he cared too much the Mr. Beaver and I were following.

That only made Susan and Lucy want to speed up. Susan made it to the top only tripping once, but she manage to keep her balance and didn't fall. Lucy tripped once as well, but fell and began to slide down the hill. I managed to reach her just in time and help her back up to the rest.

At the top of the hill, I saw the Witch's castle still a good distance away. I stopped as noticed that Peter had also stopped. Lucy and Susan both came to a halt along with Mr. Beaver. Everyone just looked out to the castle, barely making out a figure heading inside the castle. We believed it was Edmund and knew that there was no way we could make it to him in time. He had too much of a head start.

"Edmund!" Lucy shouted.  
I faced her and said "Shh! They'll hear you!"

Peter started running towards the castle, but he didn't get very far.  
"No!" Mr. Beaver shouted, jumping forward up and grabbing Peter's arm to stop him. I was surprised that a beaver could hold a boy back but found it irrelevant at the time.  
"Get off me!" Peter shouted at him.  
"We can't just let him go!" Susan argued.  
"He's our brother!" Lucy seemed to finish for Susan.  
"He's the bait!" I said.  
"The witch wants all five of ya!" Mr. Beaver explained.  
"Why?" Peter said.  
"To stop the prophecies from coming true! To kill ya!" Mr. Beaver responded honestly.

Peter looked shocked at the news and Lucy's face fell like she had given up hope. Susan just looked angry, very unlike her other two siblings.  
"This is all your fault!" she said, taking a few steps forward.  
Peter whirled around. "My fault?!"  
"None of this would've happened if you had just listened to me in the first place!"  
"Oh, so you knew this would happen."  
"I didn't know what would happen. Which is why we should've left while we still could!"

They were almost in each others faces, angry. Clearly they thought blaming each other was a good idea at the moment.

Peter looked like he was about to say something else to Susan's statement when Lucy interjected with a shouted "Stop it!" Much quieter she explained, "This isn't going to help Edmund."  
"She's right," I said.  
"Only Aslan can help your brother now," Mr. Beaver finished for me.  
"Then take us to him," Peter told Mr. Beaver, sadly.

We started our way back to the Beavers' house, slowly. Walking and not talking because, honestly, no one knew what to say anymore. Or if they did they didn't know how to say it as there was really nothing any of us could say. I knew the walk back to the dam would take much more time as we walked dejectedly, but figured that was what they needed. Until I heard it a knew we had to move faster.

the first wolf howl was further away so I knew the Pevensies didn't hear it. A look a Mr. Beaver confirmed that he heard something, whether it was the wolf howl or not was unknown, but as he grew tense. He started to subtlety pick up the pace. By the second howl, they were much closer, and I looked around to see if the others had heard the howl this time. They had evidently had as we all took off running. This time it was easier since we were going down the hill and we reached the Beavers' house without them catching us.

Mr. Beaver flung open the door. "Hurry, Mother! They're after us!" he shouted as we all hurried in after him.  
"Oh, right then!" Mrs. Beaver said.

Then she began gathering things up and placing them on the table. All the items were placed onto a cloth. She would wrap the items up when she was finished, turning the cloth into a bag. It looked like mostly food, but she had grabbed other things as well.

"What's she doing?!" Peter asked, desperately. Mr. Beaver just rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders in response.  
"Oh, you'll be thanking me later. It's a long journey and Beaver gets pretty cranky when he's hungry," she replied while gathering more things up.  
"I'm cranky now!" Mr. Beaver shouted.

Susan began to help her out at that statement and I decided to stand by the door to watch. It might not be the best thing to do, but I couldn't just stand around doing nothing. Too many people getting food would actually make it worse so I figured I could at least give them a warning and let them escape. I could protect them. the Beavers and the Pevensies, even if it meant that I would get caught.

"Do you think we'll need jam?" Susan asked.  
"Only if the Witch serves toast!" Peter sarcastically responded after hearing the wolves howl again.  
"They're here." I whispered to them when I saw them appear.  
"Quickly! This way!" Mr. Beaver said and lead them to what looked to be a cupboard.  
"You too, dear," Mrs. Beaver said pulling at my arm.  
"But-" I began before she cut me off.  
"No! Come on!"

All of the Pevensies had already left, following Mr. Beaver. I let Mrs. Beaver go first before I jumped down into the carefully concealed tunnel. Then I closed the doors, hoping to by us a little time, and followed after her.

Mrs. Beaver ran up to her husband and started leading us as well. Peter held a torch and was right behind them. Lucy and Susan were next; Susan carried the bag and a lantern. I was last, making sure that they got out because I knew what they were supposed to do. Lucy tripped over a root and fell down. When Susan went to help her up, we all stopped. We heard the wolves yelp and howl after us.

"They're in the tunnel," Lucy whispered, panic in her voice.

As soon as she said that, we all picked up the pace and started running faster. Well as best as one could run in a tunnel. The tunnel suddenly reached a dead end. Mrs. Beaver turned to her husband, both shocked and worried.  
"You should've brought a map!" she shouted at him. I could hear the worry in her voice.  
"There wasn't room next to the jam!" he replied.

Then he began to dig a hole upward. Mrs. Beaver followed after him and Peter began to urge us forward. Normally I would've argued with him and made him go first but now wasn't the time. Instead I went into the newly created hole, though it was almost too small for me to fit through, and Susan had to help me out before we both turned to help Peter. Mr. Beaver and Peter moved a nearby barrel to cover the exit. When we turned around, my face fell. Lucy was laying on the ground among small statues. All Narnian creatures that had been turned to stone by the Witch's hand.

Lucy carefully stood up just as Mr. Beaver walked over to one of the statues that looked to be a badger. Mr. Beaver placed his paw on the stone paw.  
Mrs. Beaver placed a paw on his shoulder, comfortingly. "I'm so sorry dear."  
"He was my best mate," he said, sadly.

Lucy, Susan, Peter and I were all standing in a line a little ways behind them. We had no idea what to say to comfort them, especially since I knew that was probably Tumnus' fate as well. I felt a little out of place and so lost.

It was Peter who interrupted the silence saying, "What happened here?"  
"This is what becomes of those who cross the Witch," a Fox replied as he stepped out of the shadows.

Peter, on instinct I believe, protectively stood in front of us. He was even being protective of me because when I tried to move away, he grabbed my arm and pulled me back behind. I wasn't sure how to react to that so I just complied. But I knew the Fox wasn't on the Witch's side and therefore wasn't a threat to us.

"You take one more step, traitor, and I'll chew you to splinters!" Mr. Beaver said, protectively, while Mrs. Beaver held him back.  
"Relax," the Fox replied. "I'm one of the good guys.  
"Yeah? Well, you look an awful lot like one of the bad ones," he said.  
"An unfortunate family resemblance. But we can argue breeding later. Right now we've got to move."  
The howls of wolves quickly brought Peter into the conversation. "What did you have in mind?" he asked after glancing over his shoulder to the tunnel.

The Fox smiled and looked to a tree. Without really thinking we all ran towards it. The Beavers started climbing first followed by Lucy, Peter, Susan and me. The Pevenies went to the right and all of them stayed on the same branch. I went with The Beavers to the left. There we waited while the Fox was on the ground right below us, swiping his tail across the ground. He was waiting for the wolves to come. I could tell by the looks on everyone's faces that they weren't sure whether they could trust the Fox and they were basically waiting for the Fox to give them away. If they only knew what he would really do.


	10. Chapter 9: The Fox Friend

**Chapter 9 The Fox Friend**

I heard the howls, first followed by a crashing sound as the wolves pushed the barrel away from the tunnel exit. The Fox was below still below us and it looked to me like he was using his tail to wipe away our tracks in the snow. A moment later, he was surrounded by the wolves and they began circling him.

"Greetings, gents!" he said. "Lost something, have we?"  
"Don't patronize me!" said the head wolf, Maugrim, harshly. "I know where your allegiance lies. We're looking for some humans."  
The Fox chuckled. "Humans? Here in Narnia? That's a valuable bit of information don't you think?"

Suddenly, one of the wolves pounced at The Fox and grabbed him. He let out a small yelp but nothing else; however the action made Lucy nearly gasp before Peter quickly placed his hand over her mouth to stop her. A glance told me that the Beavers had done the same thing to each other.

"Your reward is your life," Maugrim taunted, laughing. "It's not much, but still. Where are the fugitives?!"

There was a pause. I held my breath, knowing that he would make the right choice. But the Pevensies and the Beavers, however, looked as if they believed The Fox would actually give them up. There was no way he would because he followed Aslan and knew better than to send anyone into the hands of the Witch. Of course there was also the small matter of the prophecies that probably aided his decision.

The Fox sighed and hung his head, seemingly in defeat. "North. They ran north," he told.  
"Smell them out!" Maugrim commanded to the rest of the wolves.

Then the wolf holding The Fox threw him down on the ground as he growled. The Fox yelped once as he hit the ground. All the wolves took off running, heading north and he tried to stand but was unable to. We watched from the tree as The Fox laid limp on the ground. Everyone seemed to want to help him, but was unsure if it was safe to go. I was the first move.

I scrambled down a couple branches and then jumped the rest of the way down. No one protested like I expected them to, so I ran for The Fox. By the time I reached him, Lucy and her siblings were right beside me. The Fox was still alive and not injured too bad. Just enough that he couldn't get up at the moment; some of that was probably due to the pain from being bitten. Mrs. Beaver was quick to react.

"I'll help our Fox friend here. Ana, go get some firewood please. Peter help me move him," she assigned.  
"What about us?" Lucy asked, her voice begging to help.  
"Well, you can stay here, for now."  
"Oh, okay," she replied rather sadly.

It looked as if she wanted to help in some way, but she realized she couldn't. Susan and Lucy stayed behind and made themselves comfortable on the snow, as much as one could anyway on the cold ground. Mr. Beaver seemed to wander through the stone creatures, almost like he was looking for something. Peter carefully picked up The Fox and moved him prior to Mrs. Beaver instructions. I left to gathered some loose branches and sticks on the ground- if there was any- for a small fire. We would need a lot of it and I figured I would have to start breaking the branches off of trees to get enough.

I came back with an armload of sticks for firewood, some of which I had managed to find in the snow. The Pevensies were sitting in a circle on the ground and our Fox friend was beside Peter. They all looked at me when I came back. Mrs. Beaver was getting something out of the bag she had made. I set the firewood down in the middle of the Pevensies, closer to The Fox. Then I looked around for Mr. Beaver because I hadn't seen him earlier. He appeared to come out of nowhere. But in reality, he suddenly just came into view and I assumed that he was with his badger friend.

"Thank you Ana. Now we just need to get this fire lit," Mr. Beaver said.  
"I'll try," Peter said.  
"Go ahead," he encouraged.

As Mrs. Beaver finally found what she was looking for, I walked closer to her and The Fox. I wanted to help her, if she would let me that is. However, before I could ask if she would like any help, I heard Peter sigh and turned to look at him.  
"What's wrong?" I asked.  
"I can't get it started," he replied. "It's too wet."  
I thought a moment before saying "Let me try. I might be able to get it."

He nodded and moved back to his spot by his sisters. He managed to past me the flint, Mrs. Beaver had either manage to grab it our they had found some in one of the creatures houses, and I tried striking it, like normal. But Peter was right with his assessment that the wood was too wet as it wouldn't spark at all. I knew that a fire needed to be started soon or we would freeze tonight. The temperature gets colder as the night goes on and it was definitely cold now. I could see Lucy shivering slightly, even though she tried to hide it.

Knowing that it would be nearly impossible to light the wet wood, I frowned and tried striking the flint again. Like before, it didn't work and I almost sighed in defeat before I remembered that I had a tiny bit of fire ability, since I was a phoenix as well. It wasn't enough to actually do any harm to anyone and I doubted it would work on the fire, but it was worth a try. No one ever figured that I would have fire ability, even if it was just a little, as a human but I guess the phoenix part was a bit stronger than we thought.

Thankfully, it wasn't a lot as I wouldn't want to have fire ability at all even, if it was just a tiny bit. IF I was to be honest, I kind of didn't want the phoenix to be a part of me anymore. I was wishing I was born normal, didn't have some big secret. There were many times when I wondered what it would've been like to be a normal human as maybe things would've been different. I wouldn't have experienced so much loss and maybe, just maybe, I could've found out where I came from. But with this phoenix, it made things hard and my past was much different. Sometimes I couldn't help but wonder if my parents had abandoned me because of it, if they had abandoned me at all.

When I snapped my fingers, I could create a spark of fire. Nothing else besides a spark, but as I grew and the phoenix powers grew stronger, I knew others suspected I was capable of more. But I wasn't willing to test it now or ever. All we needed was enough of a spark to get a fire going, so I snapped my fingers. No one seemed to hear me snap but the spark ended up setting the damp firewood into flames. I suspected that it had something to do with being set using magic. Everyone had relieved looks on their faces as the flames began warming them up.

Both Beavers were sitting down with Mrs. Beaver and The Fox beside Peter, on the far side of the fire, and Susan on his right. Lucy sat just beyond Susan, which put her next me. Mrs. Beaver was taking care of the injured Fox and I was going to move over and help her, but I decided against it. She had things under control and it didn't look like she needed anyone's help, though he did squirm from time to time.

Mr. Beaver had the bag in his paw and began to dig through it. He finally found what he was looking for and pulled it out. It was a loaf of bread which he handed to me. I wasn't sure what he wanted me to do with it at first, but then realized I was supposed to divide it up between the seven of us and I did. I even managed to save some of it. Though not much.

Minutes later, Mrs. Beaver seemed to be about done helping The Fox.  
"Are you all right?" Lucy asked.  
"I wish I could say their bark is worse than their bite," he tired chuckling but it didn't work. "Ow!" he said with a yelp.  
"Stop squirming!" she scolded him. "You're worst than Beaver on bath day!"  
Mr. Beaver looked at us and then said "Worst day of the year."  
This made the Pevenises smile a little and I tried to hold in a chuckle.  
Then The Fox stood up. "Thank you for your kindness, but I'm afraid that's all the cure I have time for.".  
"You're leaving?" Lucy asked, surprised.  
"It's been a pleasure my Queen and an honor," he bowed, "but time is short and Aslan himself has asked me to gather more troops."  
"You've seen Aslan?! What's he like?" Mrs. Beaver asked him, giddy almost.  
"Like everything we've ever heard." Then he looked to us, mostly the Pevensies with an occasional glance to me. "You'll be glad to have him by your side fighting against the Witch."  
"But we're not planning on fighting any Witch!" Susan said.  
"But surely King Peter! The prophecy!"  
"We can't go to war without ya," Mr. Beaver encouraged.  
Peter thought for a moment then said, "We just want our brother back." He tossed something into the fire and I realized it was a crumb.

After the discussion, The Fox went on his way. He headed north. The same direction he had told the wolves to go. Mrs. Beaver told us that we should get some sleep since we had a long journey tomorrow. Of course we didn't want to argue with her, so we tried. They had managed to find the entrance to one of the homes hidden in a tree, and encouraged the Pevensies inside. It would be a tight fit for all of us to sleep comfortably- with five of us being humans and the homes were made for creatures- and both myself and the beavers debated about going inside. After some persuasion from the Pevensies, though, we eventually relented. Many of them were asleep shortly after, and I soon followed them with a smile on my face, knowing that for the time being we were all safe for another night.

* * *

The last part might seem a bit confusing, but I rewatched the movie and noticed something I hadn't before. While they're around the fire talking, in the background there's a tree and you can see light coming from inside it. I assumed that it was home for one of the creatures that had been turned to stone and that they would've used that place to sleep. So that's what I'm doing here, using it as the place they slept.

Sorry about the delay! A lot of stuff has been happening and I just got inspiration to write a new story. I'll try to update this more often.


	11. Chapter 10: Father Christmas and Gifts

**Chapter 10 Father Christmas and Gifts**

"Up! Come on now!" I slightly heard Mrs. Beaver say just now waking from my sleep.

I sighed and then opened my eyes to find that Mrs. Beaver wasn't anywhere near me. She was over trying to wake up the stubborn Pevensies, specifically Lucy and Peter, who just rolled over when she tried. Susan was already up along with Mr. Beaver and I decided I might as well get up; there was no need to make Mrs. Beaver fight with me to get up as well.

Susan looked over at me as soon as I stood up, but she didn't say anything. I couldn't read the expression on her face either, so I never thought a thing about it. Mr. Beaver was wandering around seeming to be looking for something; he was probably checking to see that the coast was clear, which did entail seeing if there were any wolves near us.

Eventually, Mrs. Beaver got frustrated at the two Pevensie siblings. I would've been too if I was the one trying to get them up, but instead I found it quite humorous that they wouldn't wake up. I had to hold in my amusement when she started shaking them awake and they still refused to get up. However, they knew they couldn't stay asleep or pretending to be- because I swore they were- for very long and they got up.

We started our long journey to Aslan's Camp, which seemed really far but if one was really determined, they could make it in less than week; about a day to be exact, but that was with horses and all the supplies one needed without having to stop rest along the way. I knew that we could get there in two days if we managed our time, but with Lucy being so young and easily tired, I wasn't sure if we would make it by then. I knew that the Pevensies were determined to find Aslan so they could save their brother, so I wouldn't have been surprised if we made within the next day or two.

After quite a few hours of walking, we finally reached the stone bridge. From there, could see just about everything in Narnia. I could faintly see the outline of the Stone Table Arch not too far, along the horizon. This view, however, made it seem like one's journey was really long and sometimes made Narnians dread it. Of course, it could be long but the beavers and I both knew of shortcuts that would get us to where we needed to be in half the time.

"Now, Aslan's camp is near the stone table. Just across the frozen river," Mr. Beaver told them, pointing, as he gazed across Narnia  
"River?!" Peter asked, alarmed.  
"Oh, the river's been frozen solid for a hundred years," Mrs. Beaver reassured.  
"It's so far," Peter said, tiredly.  
"It's the world dear. Did you expect to be small?" she asked.  
"Smaller," Susan answered, sounding a bit sarcastic, before following The Beavers.

Just over an hour later, we were halfway across the frozen plains. They were a couple of miles long and by then, we were almost back into the forest. It was a very vulnerable spot, should we be followed, as it was just a frozen wide open area; although most of Narnia was frozen solid now. There wasn't much of anything that wasn't frozen and it was all because the Witch wanted it like that.

"Come on, humans! While we're still young!" Mr. Beaver shouted at us for the thousandth time.  
"If he tells us to hurry one more time," Peter said as he stopped to carry Lucy on his back, "I'm going to turn him into a big, fluffy hat." The Pevensies and I chuckled at his comment.  
"Hurry up! Come on!" Mr. Beaver shouted.  
"He is getting a little bossy," Lucy commented.  
"No! Behind you! It's her!" Mrs. Beaver said.

We turned around and saw that there was a sleigh heading towards us, a sleigh that could only belong to the Witch. I wondered why I was just now hearing the sleigh bells. My hearing was much stronger than a normal human, apparently; however, I never had to a human to compare to, and I knew that I should've heard the sleigh bells before they were that close. I frowned, knowing I didn't have much time to figure out why and just decided that it was because I was distracted.

"Run!" Peter said as he put Lucy down.

Susan took off running, quickly followed by Peter who was holding Lucy's hand. I was last, but I made sure that I was. If I ran as fast as I could, I would be ahead of Susan, possibly even The Beavers; I was pretty fast for only having two feet. Instead, I chose to stay behind all of them because they had to get to safety and I was going to make sure they all of us did. Worst come to worst, I knew I'd be able to run fast enough to lead whoever was tailing us far enough away from them, though I doubted either of The Beavers would approve of that idea.

By the time I reached the forest, Mr. Beaver had already gotten the Pevensies hidden. He had waited until I got there as well, gesturing to the hiding place, before diving into it. I quickly followed and placed myself between Susan and Mrs. Beaver with Lucy to Susan's left and beside Peter. Mr. Beaver placed himself on the other side of Peter, so all of us were squished between the two beavers. We waited silently in the little cave, anxious to see if the Witch and her minions would find us.

A shadow appeared on the snow bank in front of us. It stayed for a few minutes and I thought whoever it was knew where we were, but then the shadow disappeared and everything felt silent. As the silence stretched on, I started to think they had left and apparently Lucy thought the same.  
"Maybe she's gone," she stated, slowly.  
"I suppose I'll go look," Peter whispered, shifting to get up.  
"No!" Mr. Beaver whispered-shouted. "You're worth nothing to Narnia dead." Then he started to leave.  
"Well, neither are you Beaver!" Mrs. Beaver whispered to her husband, reaching out her arm to stop him.  
He took it. "Thanks, sweetheart," he said as he began to leave.

I liked how The Beavers cared so much for each other and others, even us fugitives- because there was no denying that's what we were. They were risking their lives to keep us safe and Mr. Beaver had just put his life on the line disregarding any thought as to what his wife thought. But I still didn't understand how I was that important to them. The others, I could understand even though I had heard their prophecy for the first time, just like them. They were a symbol of hope; the first humans they had seen with a promise to finally rid Narnia of the Witch. I refused to believe the words of the prophecy about me; there was no way that I could be what it meant.

We heard rustling overhead and we could all nervously looked to the ledge above, trying to see if we could spot what made the sound. It was easy for us to see that Mrs. Beaver was nervous about her husband. The Pevensies were scared too; we all were. Anyone could tell by looks on their faces because it was pretty obvious, but I think I managed to hide mine. Then again none of us were commenting on how scared the other looked as we were more worried about whether or not we were going to be imprisoned or turned to stone; more than likely the latter and not the former.

Suddenly, Mr. Beaver peeked over the edge, causing Lucy to let out a clipped scream and myself to gasp in fear. He had definitely startled me.  
"Come on! Come out! I hope you've all been good because there's someone here to see ya!" Mr. Beaver said, excitedly.

Peter climbed out first, pulling Lucy behind him and then Susan and I both followed with Mrs. Beaver last. We climbed up the little hill and I couldn't believe my eyes and gasped once again; this time it was out of surprise and shock. The person in front of me was someone I hadn't expected to ever see again. It had been far too long since any Narnian had laid eyes on him.

A man, with a white hair and beard stood in front of his sleigh. He was dressed in a dark red, brown, and a little bit of green. As we got closer I realized he was chuckling, probably at all of our reactions and the fact that we had hid from him. It was Father Christmas.

"Merry Christmas, sir," Lucy said happily, if a bit shocked.  
"It certainly is, Lucy, since you have arrived," Father Christmas replied.  
"Look, I've put up with a lot since I got here, but this-" Susan began only to be cut off by Peter.  
"We thought you were the Witch," Peter apologized to him.  
"Yes, yes. I'm sorry about that, but.. uh... in my defense, I have been driving one of these longer than the Witch," he answered, removing his gloves.  
"I thought there was no Christmas in Narnia," Susan said, skeptically and probably a bit confused. I felt the same so I couldn't blame her if she did.  
"No. Not for a long time. But the hope you have brought, Your Majesties, is finally starting to weaken the Witch's power," he stated.

I smiled at the news and looked at The Beavers. They were so happy it appeared as if they were glowing and it made me grin even brighter. Narnians always had hope, but now it was stronger than ever and they felt safe- and happy- enough to smile again.

"Still, I dare say you could do with these," Father Christmas said bringing me back to the conversation.  
He lifted his big bag off the sleigh.  
Lucy dashed forward a little saying, "Presents!"

He chuckled and removed something from the bag. It was a small bottle of a red liquid. The bottle was glass and had some kind of design that I couldn't see from my position but the stopper was a golden lion. It was held in a pouch of a darker red, with a golden clip to keep it closed.

"The juice of the fire-flower. One drop will cure any injury," he said. "And though I hope you never have to use it..." He handed her a dagger with a small belt so she could attach it to her waist. It also had the head of a lion at the top as the hilt. I knew that the cordial could easily be attached to the belt, a way for her to keep both on her at all possible times.  
"Thank you, sir. But I think I could be brave enough," Lucy said.  
"I'm sure you could. But battles are ugly affairs," he replied with a smile.

She moved back towards us as Father Christmas pulled two other things out of the bag. It was a quiver of arrows, with a bow, and a ivory horn. The horn was a white lion roaring lion and a dark red strap was attached to it. The bow was a dark brown with red in the middle, where one would place their hand. and ivory ends; it was similar to the arrows. They were brown red feathers on the end and though the tips of the arrows were hidden, I had a strange suspicion that they were gold. The quiver was ivory, similar to that of her horn, and had the initials 'SP' carved in silver lettering; it also had a red strap for it to be place over one's shoulder.

"Susan," Father Christmas said.  
She walked forward and handed her the bow and arrows.  
"Trust in this bow and it will not easily miss."  
"What happened to 'battles are ugly affairs'?" she asked him after looking at the quiver.  
He chuckled. "And though you don't seem to have a problem making yourself heard, blow on this and wherever you are, help will come," he said as he handed her the horn.  
"Thanks." she said and also returned to where she was standing originally.

The next thing he grabbed was a sword and shield. The shield was silver with a red crest of a roaring lion. The hilt of his sword was red and had a gold lion- the same as Lucy's dagger- on it. It was held in a red scabbard that was attached to a sword belt of the same color.

"Peter," he said as Peter approached him, "time to use these may be near at hand."  
"Thank you, sir," Peter replied unsheathing his sword. The blade appeared to have an inscription written on it.

I expected him to grab his bag and put it back in his sleigh but instead he reached back in and grabbed another bow and arrow set. The bow was a plain golden color, nothing special looking about it, but the arrows were dark brown with dark blue feathers. The quiver they were in was blue with a white tree through the middle, giving it a very Narnian look.

"Ana?" he said to me.  
"Yes?" I said, confused, as I came forward.  
"These are very special, requested by Aslan himself." He said told this to everyone, not just me, before directing the conversation back to me. "No magic can be used on these. Which means no one can damage your arrows or the bow using magic, not even the White Witch. They'll even be able to hit any magical creature you should encounter, and even if the can deflect other weapons, your arrows will still hit. If you trust in this bow you'll never miss a target."  
"But I don't want to fight. I never liked war or violence," I told him.  
"That's a choice you made and I would never have you change it. It's all up to you. Just be warned that you'll be forced to reconsider at some point."  
"I understand. Thank you."

I began to back away from him and he looked at me confused.  
"Everyone else got two gifts. Did you not expect a second?" he asked, quiet enough that I heard but the Pevensies would not.  
"If we're being honest, I never expected the one," I said.  
"I see," he grabbed something out of his bag but couldn't tell what because it was small and wrapped in a red cloth. With a gesture for me to come closer, he whispered, "What it does is a secret; it is only for you to know, for I do not. Aslan will be able to tell you if you cannot figure it out for yourself."  
Then he placed it into my hand. Without saying another word about the object, he looked at the others.  
"These are tools, not toys. Bear them well and wisely... Now, I must be off. Winter is almost over and things do pile up when you've been gone a hundred years," he said as he placed his bag back into his sleigh. "Long Live Aslan! And Merry Christmas!"

With that, he drove away and the others began to shout goodbyes to him. I looked down at the object he had placed in my hand and unwrapped the cloth. It was a silver necklace. The charm was something I recognized immediately. A phoenix. I stared at it for a brief moment before moving to put it on.

Lucy had said something that I didn't catch but the others must've found it funny because they laughed. But Peter's words suddenly changed the mood. "He said 'winter is almost over.' You know what that means?! No more ice!"


	12. Chapter 11: The River

I'm so sorry about the delay. There is no excuse for my inability to update. I just get so busy and sometimes I forget about my stories. Thank you _Country Galfor_ because your review reminded me to update. Also, thank you to all of those who have reviewed in trying to help make this story better. Here's a belated Christmas present for you all. I might start doing previously just so none of you have to go back and reread the previous chapter.

* * *

 _ **~Previously~**_

 _"These are tools, not toys. Bear them well and wisely... Now, I must be off. Winter is almost over and things do pile up when you've been gone a hundred years," he said as he placed his bag back into his sleigh. "Long Live Aslan! And Merry Christmas!"_

 _With that, he drove away and the others began to shout goodbyes to him. I looked down at the object he had placed in my hand and unwrapped the cloth. It was a silver necklace. The charm was something I recognized immediately. A phoenix. I stared at it for a brief moment before moving to put it on._

 _Lucy had said something that I didn't catch but the others must've found it funny because they laughed. But Peter's words suddenly changed the mood. "He said 'winter is almost over.' You know what that means?! No more ice!"_

* * *

 **Chapter 11 The River**

After Peter's last lines, we all desperately ran for the river. Thankfully, we weren't that far away and made it there quickly. The ice was already beginning to melt away from the surface; most of the river below the waterfall had thawed.

"We need to cross, now!" Peter demanded, taking Lucy's hand.  
"Don't beavers make dams?!" Lucy asked.  
"I'm not that fast, dear," Mr. Beaver replied.  
"Come on!" Peter stated, anxiously.

Peter started heading down. Susan didn't move.  
"Wait! Will you think about this for a minute?!" Susan said.  
"We don't have a minute," Peter said, harshly.  
"I'm just trying to be realistic," she replied.  
"No! You're trying to be smart. As usual."

Susan looked offended and the others headed down towards the river. I waited for Susan to go with them before I made a move to follow. It didn't take any persuasion because once she heard the wolves howl, she followed them with me close behind.

Once we reached the frozen-now quickly unfreezing- river's edge, we all stopped. Peter took one step onto the ice but it sank slightly under the weight. He stepped back a little terrified as we needed to get across to the other side.

"Wait. Maybe I should go first," Mr. Beaver said.  
"Maybe you should," Peter said, fear evident in his voice.

Mr. Beaver walked onto the ice. He was testing the weight of them so we knew which ones were safe to walk on and I noticed that some of them started to come loose.

"You've been sneaking second helpings, haven't you?" Mrs. Beaver asked as we began to cross, walking on the ones that Mr. Beaver had.  
"Well you never know which meal's going to be your last," he replied. Then slightly quieter he added, "Especially with your cooking."

Peter began to lead us across the ice. Lucy shrieked in fear a couple times but it was probably from the ice moving under her feet. It also could've been from the freezing water that kept shooting up and hitting us.

We were halfway across the ice when icicles started falling from the waterfall. I looked up and saw the wolves run across the top at the same time Lucy noticed and screamed.  
"Oh, no!" she said causing the others to stop.

Peter looked at up and then threw caution into the wind by running across. We all followed his actions; however we all had to stop when the wolves jumped down, blocking our path. Mr. Beaver did a hiss-like thing to the wolves and raised his paw, claws displayed. One of the wolves pounced on Mr. Beaver and held him down.  
"No!" Mrs. Beaver yelled covering her mouth in fear for her husband.

I was focusing on the approaching wolves, specifically Maugrim, who was now cornering us. He was growling at us when I heard a sword unsheathing. Peter had shoved his sisters behind him, and was now in front of all of us pointing his sword at the wolves.

"Put that down, boy! Someone could get hurt," Maugrim said.  
"Don't worry about me! Run him through!" Mr. Beaver shouted to Peter.  
"Leave now while you can, and your brother leaves with you," Maugrim taunted.  
"Stop Peter! Maybe we should listen to him!" Susan yelled at Peter.  
Maugrim chuckled, "Smart girl."  
"Don't listen to him. Kill him! Kill him now!" Mr. Beaver interjected.  
"Oh, come on. This isn't your war. All my Queen wants is for you to take your family and go," Maugrim stated.  
"Look, just because some man in a red coat gives you a sword, it doesn't make you a hero! Just drop it!" Susan said.

I was confused on who to side with. Susan had a point but Peter was just protecting us. Maugrim could be telling the truth but I didn't believe him because the Witch wanted any human that ever wandered the woods. The Pevensies were the ones that had to make the decision though and I knew I would follow whichever they made. So I didn't say anything and just watched the exchange.

"No, Peter! Narnia needs you! Gut him while you still have a chance!" Mr. Beaver shouted.  
"What's it gonna be, Son of Adam. I won't wait forever. And neither will the river!" Maugrim said.

Lucy and I both looked up at that statement. The waterfall was cracking and get ready to unfreeze. water already began to spray out of crack. It wouldn't hold for much longer and we all knew it.  
"Peter!" Lucy shouted.

He noticed what she was talking about and began to look around, rather panicked. I had no idea what he was looking for but I assumed it was something to help us out; thought our options were in short supply.

"Hold on to me!" he shouted.

Lucy and Susan both grabbed a hold of his arm as he stabbed his sword into the ice. Mrs. Beaver had also grabbed ahold of Susan. I stood there, looking dumb, not knowing what to do. When I heard the ice cracking and saw water start spraying out even more, I grabbed onto Lucy. Maugrim looked up just as the waterfall unfroze and burst.

The girls screamed as we were pushed under the water by the impact of the waterfall. I don't know how long we were under, but when we resurfaced everything was much calmer. There were no wolves in sight and the beavers- who had been separated from us when we went under- had finally climbed onto our chunk of ice.

Lucy screamed a little in fear and I noticed she was starting to slip; I was accidentally dragging her down. Peter kept trying to pull her up but she was slipping out of her coat and Peter had to hold on to the sword so we all didn't go under. When I realized this, I let go and plunged into the cold water. Another figure followed a short while after and I knew it was Lucy.

I was able to resurface shortly after going under. However, Lucy was nowhere in sight and I wondered where she was. The current was strong and it kept pushing me under. After being pushed under so many times I finally spotted Lucy. She was having just as much trouble staying on the surface of the water as I was and kept being pulled under. It was a bit more difficult for her because she was smaller so I quickly swam over to her just as she went under again. Without thinking I dove my head back under the water, going after her.

She started sinking and couldn't get back up and the look on her face told me she was scared. When I finally reached her and grabbed her arm the look on her face changed to look more relieved. She clung desperately to me as I wasted no time pulling her back above the surface of the water and swimming towards the shore. It was a bit of a struggle since I was swimming against the current and trying to get Lucy there. but eventually, we reached it and I pulled Lucy onto it. Then I collapsed and Lucy followed my actions, coughing.

"Thank you," she said.

I just nodded a 'you're welcome' to her. The swim had exhausted me and all I wanted to do was rest, but I knew we had to get back to her siblings. So, I slowly stood up and then I held out my hand to help Lucy up.  
"Come on," I said, "Peter and Susan will be worried about you."  
"Yeah. I lost my coat," she replied.  
"I would give you my cloak, but I kind of need it," I said, sadly. "Besides, it's wet and wouldn't do much good."  
She laughed. "It's fine. I'm surprised you managed to keep it on. Hey! What's that?" She pointed to the necklace that I had put on.  
"It was my second gift. I don't know if it does anything or what it's supposed to mean." I lied about knowing what it meant.

I figured following the river would be the best way to find them, and started walking. Turns out I was right because after walking a little bit, we heard shouting.  
"Lucy! Lucy!"I knew it was Susan who was yelling for her sister.

Lucy looked at me and I smiled at her. Then she started running forward a little but then slowed to walk.  
"Has anyone seen my coat?" she said.

I couldn't exactly see what was happening, but I figured it was a good thing. No one seemed to notice that I wasn't there, but then again I hadn't said much on the journey. It didn't really matter to me anyways because I just felt like I was tagging along despite there being a prophecy about me and didn't really belong with them.

For some reason, I felt an urge to stop and look around. But when I did I saw nothing out of the usual. Just snow covered trees that had started to have some flower buds. Flower buds... That was different and it meant spring was finally coming; the winter was ending. It reminded me of long ago when Aslan was here and the White Witch didn't rule and I began thinking of those times.

 **~3rd Person Point of View~**

 _She watched the fauns and dryads dance around the fire. It was fun, amazing, and truly hard for her to describe. They were all free and had nothing in the world to fret about. Just the safety of others and being with friends._

 _"Ana! Why don't you join? It's much more fun than sitting there by yourself," said one of young fauns._  
 _"No. I'm good. I love watching you guys, but I don't dance," she replied._

 _The young faun just nodded and continued. Ana leaned against a nearby tree and began thinking._

 _She loved the way everyone had so much fun and there was never really anything for her to worry about. Spring had come and gone. Summer was here now and it was time for the Narnians to have some fun; it was the only season the Narnians did little work._

 _"Hey! Ana wake up!" the same young faun from before said._  
 _Dazed, Ana said, "Huh?"_  
 _The young faun laughed. "I asked if just for once you would become a phoenix. Please."_  
 _Ana smiled. "Oh, I don't know."_  
 _"Please? It's not everyday I get to see a young phoenix. Please? Just for me?"_  
 _She hesitated briefly."Oh, alright. Just for you."_

 _So she smiled at the young faun before transforming and flew into the air. She did a couple of twirls and twist and then burst into a ball of fire, near a water's edge. As the phoenix dissolved into ash, she returned to the ground a human once again._

 _Everyone had stopped dancing and starting watching her. When she landed they all smiled and clapped at her small performance. Ana saw everyone staring at her and became bright red. She had never liked anyone watching her to begin with and so with the attention she turned her face to the ground._

 _Once the sun arose across the horizon, the night was over and new day was beginning. Everyone headed home with happiness and songs in their head. Some were thinking about the day ahead and their plans for the next. Others would go straight to bed and sleep until the next evening.  
_

 _"I loved doing that. My only wish was that I wasn't afraid to do it in front of everyone else," Ana thought. She stayed a little after everyone left before heading back to her home.  
_

 _ **~Ana's Point of view~**_

I realized that I had been lost in thought so I hadn't been paying attention to how long I was gone. The others were now looking for me.  
"Ana?! Ana!" Lucy shouted.  
"Where did you last see her?" I heard Peter ask.  
"Over here," she replied as she came into view.

They all stopped in their tracks, even The Beavers. Peter drew his sword while the others looked confused. At first I didn't understand why they would act like that. It was just me but then I suddenly realized why.

In my day dreaming I had somehow transformed into a phoenix. That had never happened before and I didn't know how to react. Had I lost control of it? If I transformed again they know it was me that the prophecy was about. I didn't what them to know that, at least right now. I wasn't sure if I would be able to do all that the prophecy said.

"Who are you?" Peter asked.  
"It's a phoenix," Mr. Beaver.  
"A-a phoenix?!" Lucy asked surprised. "What happened to Ana?"  
"Maybe she left. She didn't seem like she wanted to be here," Susan said.  
"Of course she did!" Lucy defended me.  
Peter put his sword back in his scabbard. "Is it dangerous?"  
"Most phoenixes stay away from other Narnians. They keep to themselves. After all phoenixes can be dangerous creatures. They're also not very common anymore; I mean they're not seen around much anymore," Mrs. Beaver explained. "This one, on the other hand, seems a bit lost."

After all their talking about phoenixes, I didn't want to listen anymore. Instead I flew towards the trees until I was out of their sight. Once I was, I quickly transformed back. Then I started walking towards the Pevensies, or where I had last seen them.

"I don't understand. Why would she just leave?" I heard Lucy ask.  
"Why would who leave?" I asked.  
Lucy gasped. "Ana! Where were you? I was worried you left us."  
"Oh, I was just wandering. It's starting to become Spring again so I was looking around. And don't worry, I won't leave unless you ask me to."  
She smiled. "Maybe I just worry too much."  
"Sometimes it's better to worry too much than not at all," I told her as we started walking.

She smiled and pulled her wet coat onto her shoulders more. I laughed at that and she looked at me a little confused. But when I pointed to her coat she understood and laughed as well.

"I don't think you'll be needing those coats anymore," Mrs. Beaver said.

I looked around once more, knowing that she was right that she was right. A lot of the snow had melted and you could see some grass and flowers growing. The Witch's power was weakening and the Hundred Year Winter was finally, after all this time, coming to an end.


	13. Chapter 12: Meeting Aslan

I decided to give you all one more chapter before I return to chaos. After all, I made you guys wait so long for the last update. But otherwise, I have no idea when I'll be able to update again.

* * *

 ** _~Previously~_**

 _She smiled and pulled her wet coat onto her shoulders more. I laughed at that and she looked at me a little confused. But when I pointed to her coat she understood and laughed as well._

 _"I don't think you'll be needing those coats anymore," Mrs. Beaver said._

 _I looked around once more, knowing that she was right that she was right. A lot of the snow had melted and you could see some grass and flowers growing. The Witch's power was weakening and the Hundred Year Winter was finally, after all this time, coming to an end._

* * *

 **Chapter 12 Meeting Aslan**

The Pevensies had shed their coats awhile ago and put them on some tree branches, knowing they wouldn't need them again for a long while. I took my cloak off, but kept it with me because I couldn't give it up. It didn't really have anything of importance about it, it was just one of those things I couldn't bring myself to part with.

It was getting warmer outside as the day dragged on so not much snow remained. Just a few small piles here and there with some still clinging to tree branches. I was just in awe of all of it, imaging it being spring then summer, fall, and winter. The seasons finally being how they should be.

We didn't have much more to travel now and I figured we would get there by this evening. It was possible we could arrive early the next morning if we had to tale many breaks, but didn't stop to sleep at night. They would finally be safe and we could all get some rest at Aslan's Camp. I was so happy that I would actually get to see Aslan once again and didn't think much past that; it had been far too long.

After about another hour of walking, we finally reached a green field with many tents ahead of us. They were all red and gold in color and I could see red flags blowing in the breeze and they had a gold roaring lion on them. We approached the camp, each of us having different feelings about what it would be like to see Aslan. There were many Narnian creatures at the camp. Many of them I hadn't seen in awhile, specifically the centaurs and tigers. There was even a gorilla but the only flying creatures were griffins.

Then I heard the sound of a horn blowing, right before we entered the camp fully, and I looked towards the sound. Up on a small cliff there was a centaur who must've been the lookout watching for us or maybe someone on the White Witch's side. Either way everyone in the camp now knew that we had arrived and I suddenly felt self-conscious, wanting to hide.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lucy pause for a moment but didn't think much of it. When we were almost at the camp, she ran up beside us. Whatever it was that caused her to stop seemed to make her smiled brighter and I had no idea what it was. There were many Narnian creatures at the camp. Many of them I hadn't seen in awhile, specifically the centaurs and tigers. There was even a gorilla, but the only flying creatures were griffins and I can say I wasn't surprised by that.

While we were walking further into camp, towards the center and biggest tent, everyone stopped what they were doing. They started staring at us and I didn't exactly like it but I kept walking with a smile on my face. Susan didn't seem to like it either, however she to be able to hide it better whereas I kept glancing at the ground.  
"Why are they all staring at us?" she said through her smile.  
Jokingly, Lucy replied, "Maybe they think you look funny." Peter and I laughed at her comment and Lucy did as well. Susan just looked offended at that comment but tried to keep her smile.  
"Oi! Stop you're fussing," Mr. Beaver told Mrs. Beaver. "You look lovely."

I figured the biggest tent was Aslan's because of it's location and the simple fact that a centaur seeming to be standing guard nearby. We all came to a stop and Peter drew his sword.  
"We have come to see Aslan," he told the centaur.

The centaur looked towards the tent and at that moment I heard the sound of armor moving and we all turned around. All of the Narnians were bowing, or kneeling, out of respect for Aslan. I turned back around just as a paw stepped out of the tent flap and froze in awe for a brief moment. Aslan started walking forward and the Pevensies and I immediately bowed as well. He stopped at the ledge right in front of us, watching.

"Welcome, Peter, Son of Adam," Aslan said looking at Peter. "Welcome, Susan, Lucy, and Ana, Daughters of Eve. And welcome to you, Beavers. You have my thanks. But where is the fifth?"

The Pevensies and I stood up. Everyone else followed our actions and rose as well.  
"That's why we're here, Sir," Peter said, sheathing his sword. "We need your help."  
"We've had a little trouble along the way," Susan said.  
"Our brother's been captured by the White Witch."  
"Captured?" Aslan asked. "How could this happen?"  
After seeing that we were hesitant to answer, Mr. Beaver spoke up. "He betrayed them, Your Majesty."  
"Then he has betrayed us all!" the centaur that was by Aslan shouted.  
"Peace, Oreius. I'm sure there's an explanation," Aslan said trying to calm the now riled crowd.  
"It's my fault really. I was too hard on him," Peter said sadly.  
Susan placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "We all were."

I saw Lucy nod in agreement. They all looked saddened at the fact that they were the ones who caused him to leave. It could've been me too and I felt a little sad, but I had hardly known Edmund and barley talked to him. I doubted that I had much effect to him.

"Sir, he's our brother," Lucy said, timidly.  
"I know, dear one. But that only makes the betrayal all the worse. This may be harder than you think," Aslan said in a gentle voice.

After talking with him, some fauns came to show us where to go and where we would be sleeping. However, I couldn't go with the Pevensies because Aslan said he wished to speak with me. Instead, I followed him into his tent as the Pevensies left, waving goodbye to a sadden Lucy. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach; the feeling was like Aslan was really disappointed in me.

"It's been awhile since we've talked," he said.  
"Yes it has. I've missed you," I replied, wrapping my arms around his mane to hug him. "What did you wish to speak with me about?"  
"Two things, my child. The first is why you don't want to accept the fact that the phoenix prophecy is talking about you."  
"Honestly? It's because I don't want to the phoenix to be a part of me anymore," I replied, afraid of how he might respond.  
"I see. Why?"  
"I don't know. I guess I just like being human and I don't like having two sides to me, especially one that no one knows about. One that's dangerous."  
Aslan just nodded. "You, yourself, are not dangerous, Ana. Don't think that you can't have more control over the phoenix. It only has as much control as you let it."  
I nodded solemnly in response, not fully understanding. "What was the other thing?"  
"Why haven't you told the Pevensie children?"  
"Aslan," I sighed, "I don't really know the answer to that one. For some reason I haven't, like something's restricting me from telling them."  
"Could it be that you're afraid no one would accept you, if you told them? That you're afraid of what they'll think?"  
I thought about it for a moment. "That's a possibility," I sighed.

Aslan nodded, understandingly, and then told me to think about telling the others. Afterwards he dismissed me and I left his tent only to be greeted by a faun, the one who showed the Pevensies to their tents, waiting outside.

He smiled slightly at me and I smiled back. Then I was led away from Aslan's tent to another, one that looked like the rest of them. The only thing that made it stand out was that another tent was right beside it, much closer than the others. All the other tents were further away from each other, more space out to give the occupants their space.

This made me curious and I looked to the faun to ask him something about it. But before I could say anything he pointed to the one on the left saying it was mine. Then the faun walked away, with a slight bow, leaving me to ponder what it meant.

Shrugging my shoulders I walked into the tent. Susan and Lucy were there as well and when I walked in, they both looked at me causing me to stop. The two had changed their clothes in the brief time I had been gone. Susan had on a dark green dress with a brown belt around her waist. Lucy had a light blue dress and both of them had longer sleeves.

"I guess we're sharing," Lucy said as politely as could be.  
"I guess so. If that's okay that is. I'm sure I'll be able to find another place," I replied.  
"No. It's fine. We don't mind," Susan said and tried to send me a reassuring smile.

Something in Susan's voice told me that she did mind, even if it was just slightly. She was just trying to be nice but I couldn't blame her if she didn't want me here. I laid down on one of the three beds-yes, actual beds-and began thinking about everything. Susan and Lucy had a right to not want me here. Lucy had only know me for awhile and Susan barely did. She probably didn't even trust me that well, which was understandable. And I was, after all, kind of intruding on the two siblings. There was only one reason I trusted Lucy and her siblings easily and it was because I was the only other human in Narnia. I knew they wouldn't be dangerous to any of us but they would be in danger. The White Witch hated us.

"Ana?" Lucy asked.  
"Yes?" I responded pulling myself from my thoughts.  
"Lucy and I are coming down to the water. You can come and join us, if you want," Susan said.  
"Okay. Maybe in a bit," I replied.

Then they walked out and left me alone with my thoughts. I didn't really like being alone right now. Usually I didn't mind it but recently it bothered me. It gave me an eerie feeling for some reason and I didn't know why. Something about being left alone now left me suspicious of things. This had all started after Tumnus hid me and was captured, but I had no idea why it bothered me so much...


	14. Chapter 13: Peter and the Wolves

I'm so sorry for the delay. I have no idea why I can't get these chapters up in an orderly fashion. I apologize if you got a notification for an update but found there wasn't one. Since I was trying to get this up for you guys, I accidentally posted chapter 14 instead of chapter 13. So I took it down to upload this one instead. Now, because of work, it's two days later. _  
_

* * *

 **~Previously~**

 _Susan and Lucy had a right to not want me here. Lucy had only known me for awhile and Susan barely did. She probably didn't even trust me that well, which was understandable. And I was, after all, kind of intruding on the two siblings. There was only one reason I trusted Lucy and her siblings easily and it was because I was the only other human in Narnia. I knew they wouldn't be dangerous to any of us but they would be in danger. The White Witch hated us._

 _"Ana?" Lucy asked._  
 _"Yes?" I responded pulling myself from my thoughts._  
 _"Lucy and I are coming down to the water. You can come and join us if you want," Susan said._  
 _"Okay. Maybe in a bit," I replied._

 _Then they walked out and left me alone with my thoughts. I didn't really like being alone right now. Usually, I didn't mind it but recently it bothered me. It gave me an eerie feeling for some reason and I didn't know why. Something about being left alone now left me suspicious of things. This had all started after Tumnus hid me and was captured, but I had no idea why it bothered me so much..._

* * *

 **Chapter13 Peter and the Wolves**

Shortly after the girls left, I decided I didn't want to be left to my thoughts and would have some fun instead. But if I planned on joining them, I figured it should be in something a little more comfortable. My clothes were still slightly wet and sticking to me. Once finished, I smiled glad that they had at least invited me and headed to join them at the river.

As I approached, I overheard Lucy and Susan's conversation.  
"You look like mum," I heard Lucy say.  
"Mum hasn't had a dress like this since before the war," Susan replied.  
"We should bring her one back! A whole trunk full!" Lucy excitedly suggested.

When I was visible to them, they both glanced at me but I stayed off to the side, not wanting to interrupt the conversation. I noticed Susan's quiver and horn on a nearby table along with Lucy's cordial and dagger. It never even crossed my mind to bring mine, but I knew they would be of little use to me since I had never used them before.

"If we ever get back," Susan negatively answered, after a quiet moment and Lucy was crestfallen at her sister's comment. As she stared, depressingly, at the water, I walked closer to them and Susan seemed to realize what she had said. "I'm sorry I'm like that," she apologized. "We used to have fun together, didn't we?"  
"Yes..." Lucy stated, longingly, "...before you got boring." She giggled.  
"Oh, really?" Susan replied with a smirk before splashing her sister with water.

Suddenly, it turned into a water war between the two. Lucy, in the process of splashing Susan back, managed to splash me. She looked nervous for a moment, like I would be mad at her and Susan stood silently, unsure what to do. I approached Lucy with a stoic expression and when I got close enough to the water, I adopted a mischevious grin before splashing her back. She laughed and then proceeded to throw water at both me and her sister.

We continued this for awhile, just enjoying the chance to have some fun and not worry about being killed. Once we stopped, we had gotten pretty wet and I grinned. Laughing at each other, we walked away from the water's and I headed for the towels hanging on a nearby tree branch. When Susan pulled on her towel, Maugrim and another wolf appeared behind them. She screamed in surprise, echoed by Lucy.

"Please don't try to run," the first wolf said.  
"We're tired and we prefer to kill you quickly," Maugrim continued.

Susan looked behind me, to her left, and I followed her gaze. She was looking at her weapons that lay on the table far from us. My eyes flicked between her and Lucy, trying to send a silent message. Susan subtly nodded and turned back to the wolves, slowly backing away. Our plan was to get Lucy safely away.

I wasn't even prepared when Susan threw the towel in her hand at the wolves, but I grabbed Lucy nonetheless. As she ran towards the table with her weapons and horn, I pulled Lucy towards a tree and helped her climb up. A horn sounded behind me, informing me that Susan had signaled for help. I turned to check on the wolves as Susan dropped her horn and made a run for the tree.

The two wolves trying to untangle themselves from the towel was could've been comical had the situation not been so serious. But I barely had time to process that before I started climbing after Susan. She wasn't even safely located in the tree by the time I heard them snapping after us, finally managing to navigate the towel. I knew I should've climbed up sooner-not wait for Susan-but I needed them in the tree first.

There was a howl and growl before I found myself being violently pushed away from the tree. One of the wolves had jumped at me-I had no idea which one-and caused me to fall a couple feet from the trunk of the tree. My head slammed against the ground causing me to lose focus long enough for Maugrim to get closer. He was standing right beside me while the other wolf was at the base of the tree, jumping and snapping at Susan's feet. He began to circle me as my eyes flicked between the two wolves, unsure where I could go to get out of the way as well as making sure my back was never to them again.

"Ana!" I heard Lucy shout.  
"Looks like you'll be the first Daughter of Eve to die," Maugrim snarled with what I would call a grin on his face. I saw him get ready to pounce and I closed my eyes, bracing myself for a painful attack.

I heard a ring of metal as a sword was drawn from its scabbard as well as a someone running through water.  
"Get back!" he cried and I opened my eyes to see Maugrim no longer focused on me.

Peter moved between me and Maugrim, barely sparing me a second glance. The wolf jumping at Susan abandoned her for Peter. At this distraction, I quickly got out of range of both wolves, moving towards the riverbed. The two began circling him and tried keeping his sword between himself and the wolves. But it was two on one and I was suddenly concerned as to where the Narnians were. They had to have heard the horn as well.

"Come on. We've already been through this before," Maugrim taunted Peter. "We both know you haven't got it in you!"  
"Peter! Watch out!" Susan warned as the other wolf approached from his side. He pointed his sword at the other wolf, leaving him open to an attack from Maugrim.

Several splashes of water could be heard behind me and I turned just in time to see Aslan, Oreius, and some other Narnians who had come to help. Aslan pinned the second wolf down with a roar, causing it to yelp in fear. This focused Peter's attention solely on Maugrim. Orieus drew his sword, swinging it as he moved beside Aslan. They were all ready to dispatch the remaining wolf when Aslan spoke.  
"No! Stay your weapons. This is Peter's battle," he commanded.

They obeyed, keeping their weapons back but not away. If things went wrong, they would be prepared to act. All the attention back on Peter, Maugrim continued to taunt while I found myself shuffling closer to Aslan. I didn't know what else I was supposed to do and I waited with baited breath for the "duel" to end.

"You may think you're a King," Maugrim growled, "but you're going to die... Like a dog!" Then he pounced on an unprepared Peter and they both fell to the ground. Maugrim landed on top of Peter.  
"Peter!" Susan and Lucy both yelled, jumping from the tree and rushing to their brother's side.

They knelt down and pushed Maugrim off of him and Peter blearily sat up. He seemed a bit shaken up, but he appeared unharmed. Maugrim was dead, Peter's sword protruding from his side. The girls wrapped him in a worried hug and I found myself releasing a breath I didn't realize I was holding. Then I averted my eyes, finding it a private moment between siblings.

Aslan released the wolf then and it took off running in fear. "After him!" Aslan told the others and when they seemed to hesitate, he added: "He'll lead you to Edmund."

Oreius nodded to Aslan and then left with his sword drawn. All of the Narnians that had watched followed after him. The Pevensies watched them go in silence. Once they departed, leaving just Aslan and the four of us, Aslan turned to Peter.  
"Peter. Clean your sword," he said.

Peter did as he was told and approached Aslan. As he placed the blade of his sword in the grassed and kneeled before Aslan, I moved to stand by Susan and Lucy. I felt awkward standing behind Aslan when I knew he was going to.

Aslan placed his paw on Peter's shoulder. "Rise, Sir Peter Wolf's-Bane. Knight of Narnia," Aslan knighted.

Peter rose to his feet. He looked from Aslan to his sisters with a small grin. Susan and Lucy were smiling back at him, proud as could be. It was an event that they were lucky to be privy too and a great honor. Knightings hadn't happened since the Witch took over, but being knighted a great honor. It was something the Pevensies had every right to be proud of.

After a silent moment, Aslan nodded to Peter. He seemed to understand as he placed his sword back in its scabbard. With a smile, Aslan nodded and left the group alone. Susan and Lucy approached Peter and Lucy hugged him once more. This one was out of giddiness rather than fear.

All the while, I was standing behind them awkwardly. It felt weird for me to leave but I felt like was intruding by staying. With a deep breath, I decided I needed to say something and then I would leave them alone.

"Thank you, Peter," I stated, shyly interrupting their moment.

I figured I owed him at least a thank you, if not more. He had saved my life and I was grateful for that. If Peter hadn't come when he did, I shuddered at what might have happened to me. But now that it was over, I just wanted to leave them to themselves. They deserved it now anyways.

When they said nothing to me, I started walking away to give them the privacy I promised. Lucy called my name, causing me to stop. It wasn't until I turned to look at them did Peter speak.  
"No. Thank you," he corrected.  
I looked at him confused and asked him, "What?"  
"You made sure we were safe. You weren't worried about your life at the moment. Just ours," Susan clarified.  
"So thank you," Lucy repeated, with a grin.  
I smiled at them. "You saved my life. A thank you is the least I could do," I told Peter.  
"I suppose we all need to thank each other," Peter said.

Lucy smiled at her siblings and then back at me. I returned her smile and nodded in agreement. He was right. We should thank each other. After all, Peter saved my life but I saved his siblings. I could've very well already climbed the tree and not worried about Susan or Lucy, but I made a choice to get Lucy to safety and then wait for Susan before acting.

The next moment, Susan and Lucy both went to the table to collect their gifts. Then the two followed me as we headed back to our tent to rest. It had been a long day for all of us and I felt a headache coming on. Peter's tent was the one right next to ours, which made sense as to why they were closer together.

As I laid down for the night, my thoughts wandered to Edmund. I wondered if Edmund would be back by tomorrow and how his siblings would react. I wasn't even sure how I would and his betrayal wasn't as personal for me. I hardly knew him. But I knew his siblings were deeply worried about him. The Witch wasn't known for her kindness and even I was concerned for the young boy. He may not be in a healthy state.


	15. Chapter 14: Edmund's Return

Two chapters today since I already stated that chapter 14 was done. This chapter is filler for the most part so it takes awhile before anything interesting happens.

* * *

 **Chapter 14 Edmund's Return**

Sometime later, I woke up and found Susan awake as well. Lucy was still sleeping and I saw a small smile grace her older sister's lips. She truly cared for her, even if Susan had a strange way of showing it earlier. I held back my smile as I thought about it, but I couldn't keep the joy out of my eyes. So when Susan glanced over she frowned slightly until I glanced at Lucy. She seemed to get the message and her face softened.

Susan went in search of her shoes and during that time, Lucy woke up. I laid staring at the tent as I heard the two shuffle about inside. Moments later, Susan said that she was going to get Peter and then see us when we ate. I looked at her to let her know I had heard just before she disappeared outside. Lucy followed shortly after, leaving me alone. I heard Lucy shout something, but it was muffled and I frowned in confusion but didn't move. The tent wasn't that thick and she couldn't have been that far away so I should've been able to catch what she said. However, her voice held no urgency so I was in no hurry to get up. Besides, I figured she was the safest in Aslan's camp than anywhere else.

As I climbed out of bed, I shook my head to clear it only to realize that was a mistake. Pain radiated through my skull and I had to stop moving for a moment. Once the pain settled, I glanced about the tent. My sandals weren't too far away, but it suddenly felt like too much of an effort to even get up. Though the initial pain had disappeared, I found myself with a headache that was steadily throbbing and didn't feel like getting up anymore. Eventually, I did because I wanted to search for a healer, hoping they could provide something to ease my headache. It seemed to grow steadily worse with every movement.

With some help, I did manage to find a healer. They informed me that my headache could've been from my fall when the wolves attacked. After acknowledging that I would take it easy, she gave me something to help with the pain. Then I wandered around the camp for a bit before realizing I needed to meet the Pevensies. We had agreed to eat breakfast together. So I headed back to our tents as that was where the meal would be set up. While I didn't care if they had decided to wait for me or not, I thought it would be nice if they did.

When I arrived, a small smile graced my lips when I saw all of them seated, but not eating. My eyes landed on Edmund and my smile grew wider. That must have been what Lucy had shouted about. When Edmund noticed that it was him I was smiling at, he glanced away seeming embarrassed or ashamed. I couldn't tell but decided not to say anything to him about it as I took a seat between Lucy and Susan.

"Sorry I kept you waiting," I apologized to them.  
"It's alright," Peter informed with a smile. "We didn't mind." Smiles from the others confirmed that they agreed with his statement.

Edmund appeared absolutely ravenous as he ate. I sadly realized why he must've been so hungry but tried to keep my face emotionless. If not, I would have to tell them I suspected that Edmund had hardly been fed when he was with the Witch. She liked her prisoners weak so that it was very plausible that I was right. They appeared not to notice so we were able to eat our meal in silence rather than force one to relive painful memories. I was relieved, though. Besides the obvious hunger, and a few bruises on his face that were healing well, he appeared unharmed.

After we had mostly finished, Edmund began cleaning up the leftovers. It was noticeable to the others now that he was really hungry. As he grabbed for another piece of toast, Lucy smiled to her brother.  
"Narnia's not gonna run out of toast, Edmund," she told him with a chuckle.

Edmund just smiled at her and continued eating. Peter, who had finished first and moved away, was now standing up and leaning against a boulder. He had been silent for awhile, sipping his water. But at Lucy's comment, he spoke.  
"I'm sure they'll pack something up for the journey back."  
"We're going home?" Susan questioned, confusion evident in her voice.  
"You are," Peter explained. "I promised Mum I'd keep you three safe. But it doesn't mean I can't stay behind and help. I can't speak for Ana though," he amended with a glance at me.  
"But they need us. All five of us," Lucy said.  
"Five?" I asked, again doubting my importance.  
"Yes. One of us three is what the other prophecy was talking about. Two of us are meant to help bring peace to this land by defeating the Witch while the other is meant to be the protector. Whether you believe it or not, you're just as important," she clarified while Susan nodded in agreement.  
"Lucy, it's too dangerous. You almost drowned! Edmund was almost killed!" Peter argued.  
"Which is why we have to stay," Edmund stated sadly. His eyes were distant as we all looked at him. "I've seen what the White Witch can do... and I've helped her do it. And we can't leave these people behind to suffer for it."

Lucy held his hand while I suddenly found the table very interesting. I knew it would be dangerous for them to stay and I wasn't even sure if I would fight in the battle. The prophecy said I was supposed to be their protector, but I was too afraid to fight. While I knew there were logical reasons as to why I should fight, I couldn't convince myself to join. I wasn't a fighter, but rather a coward...

"Well, I suppose that's it then," Susan spoke, interrupting my thoughts.  
"No. It's not," I corrected and they all looked at me. "If you stay, it would be very dangerous for you."  
"We're well aware of that," Edmund pressed, wanting-no, needing-to help.  
I nodded, knowing they'd say that. "And there's something you should know... I know who the other prophecy is about, who's supposed to be the protector and this great warrior..."  
"But how could you possibly know? We don't even know," Susan pointed out.  
"For two reasons. One, it makes little sense for it to be one of you two. Why would one be a warrior but the other be a Queen?" They seemed to understand this and gestured for me to continue. "But also because the prophecy says 'With wings of fire she'll protect them all. The warrior she'll become when she finds her true self, the phoenix inside that can no longer be contained. She'll take flight and become the friend and warrior to all the Narnians in the land'," I said quoting it. "It's not just figurative. It's referring to an actual phoenix."  
"I still don't understand," Lucy said.

I sighed, hesitant on explaining. What happens if they hate me for keeping it from them? What if they don't accept me?  
Taking a deep breath, I continued. "I'm a phoenix. Part human, part phoenix. It's what makes me a true Narnian."  
"What?" They all asked confused, probably more than they had been.

I decided that the best way for them to understand was to show them. So I stood up and moved away from the table. After another moment of hesitation, I transformed for them. It was the first time in a long time that I transformed willingly, and for someone else. They simply stared at me in shocked and I grew nervous about their response. I transformed back so we could have the rest of the conversation face-to-face.

"So you're the one it's talking about? Not Lucy or me?" Susan asked after a beat of silence. I nodded in confirmation with an embarrassed glance at the ground.

They all looked at each other, the shock still present in their eyes, and I felt like I wanted to disappear. I kept my eyes focused on the ground. Everything would boil down to how they reacted at this moment, how our futures would go on from here. They could hate me for keeping it from them and I wouldn't blame them because I felt guilty for concealing it. These were my first human friends and they didn't even know the truth about me. But they could end up being glad that I told them. They could find it strange all together and not accept me, as Aslan told me. I wasn't even sure which one of their reactions would be the worse I was so anxious.

When I finally glanced up because the silence grew too much, they were all smiling at me. Even Edmund.  
"You're our protector," Lucy stated what they all seemed to be thinking.  
"I guess?" I replied to which they all laughed.

When the laughing stopped, Susan stood up and walked to a nearby table. Everyone followed her actions, but it was Peter who spoke.  
"Where are you going?"  
"To get in some practice," she grinned, as she picked up her bow and arrows. Then she turned and headed to the archery field.

With a smile, Lucy jumped up and grabbed my arm in excitement. She starting following Susan, pulling me behind her. I glanced over my shoulder and saw the two boys rushing to get their weapons as well. Now that they had made up their minds, they decided to get in whatever practice they could.

Soon I would have to make my choice. I would have to decide to fight or to stay behind while the others headed off to battle. Even Lucy was determined, though I doubted her siblings would allow her. For now, though, I could get by just practicing. But the time would come when I had to make a choice. It was a time that I feared, but I still followed them. Even though I knew it wouldn't happen, I still had a small sliver of hope that I wouldn't be forced to choose.


End file.
